CANTON, Mo. -- The William Woods University baseball team seeks to extend its perfect record in mid-week games this season, as they take on Culver-Stockton College for a Tuesday afternoon non-conference affair. First pitch from Nichols Field is set for 3 p.m.
The Owls (24-8) are a perfect 7-0 this season in mid-week contests, and have outscored teams 50-15 in that stretch. Culver-Stockton (16-15) has already suffered a mid-week loss to WWU this season, as the Wildcats were defeated, 5-4, at Owls Field back on Mar. 11.
WWU's mid-week success this year lies in starting pitcher Bubba Bradshaw. The St. Louis, Mo., native is having a career-year in his final season with William Woods, as the senior holds a 4-0 record with a 3.13 ERA. The right-hander has been on a role of late, as he has put together three straight quality starts in his last three Tuesday starts. He has allowed just four runs in his last 19.2 innings, and is 3-0 in over that stretch.
William Woods is coming off a three-game American Midwest Conference series at Williams Baptist University. WWU was able to take the first two games in the series, winning 17-4 in Friday's game one and 10-7 in extra innings in game two on Saturday. However, the Owls were unable to compete the sweep, as the Eagles collected a 4-3 extra-inning win in the series finale.
Austin Clapp led the offensive charge for WWU this past weekend against Williams Baptist. In three games, the third basemen hit .455 (5-for-11) with a home run and nine RBI. He posted back-to-back four-RBI games in the first two contest in the three-game series.
Zach Nichols also had a strong weekend at the plate in Arkansas, as the senior went 6-for-11 with a pair of doubles and five RBI. Like Clapp, Nichols had a four-RBI game in game two.
Though he hit just .272 in the three-game set against WBC, Matt Thomas was able to post a hit in all three contests to extend his hitting streak to nine game.
Culver-Stockton also enters Tuesday's game on the heels of a loss. C-SC was swept by Baker University in a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader this past weekend, dropping game one, 5-4, before being shutout in game two, 7-0, and just picked up two hits in the affair.
Trent Brisboe and Brock Kartheiser each had a three-hit weekend, Brisboe collected all three of his hits in game one, as Kartheiser went 2-for-4 in game one, and 1-for-3 in game two. Kartheiser also picked up a pair of RBI in game one, to push his team-lead in that category to 22.
Colby Jacobson also collected a pair of hits on the weekend to extend his hitting streak to six games entering Tuesday's contest.
As a team, Culver-Stockton is hitting .285 on the year. Danny Carroll leads the team in hitting with his .336 batting average. The right fielder has collected a team-high 38 hits, with team-best 11 extra-base hits, which includes five triples.
On the mound, the Wildcats hold a staff ERA of 3.62. Cyrus Wimberly is the team's top starting pitcher, as he has a 2.52 ERA in eight starts. The starter has had a rough time picking up wins on the season, as he is just 1-5 on the year.
William Woods scored five runs in the first three innings back on Mar. 11 to score a 5-4 win over Culver-Stockton at Owls Field. WWU jumped out to a 5-1 lead, but C-SC was able to pick up three runs in the fifth to pull within one run at 5-4. The Owls bullpen was able to throw zeroes over the game's final four innings, as they kept the one-run lead in tact to take the victory.
Despite their win in the last meeting, the Owls trail the Wildcats by a large margin in the all-time series, as C-SC holds a 16-4 advantage in the series.
Check back with wwuowls.com for a full recap of this and every game during the 2014 season.
