Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 COLUMBIA, Mo.—The No. 1 seeded William Woods University softball team is now just one win away from winning back-to-back American Midwest Conference Championship titles, as thanks to Emily Murphy's three home run day and Kacey Scharnhorst walk-off home run, the Owls beat Freed-Hardeman 3-2 (9 innings) in game one and Park University 6-3 in game two.

William Woods University 3 Freed-Hardeman University 2 (9 innings)
The Owls (38-15; 20-2 AMC), jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, as Emily Murphy hit her first home run on the season over the right field wall to start the inning off and give WWU the early advantage.
 
The team maintained its one-run lead until the bottom of the sixth, as Murphy struck again with her second home run of the game over the left field wall, this time around on a 1-2 count, which extended the Owls lead to 2-0.  
 
Heading into the top of the seventh, Freed-Hardeman was struggling to get anything going against WWU senior hurler MacKenzie Bowden, as the Hartsburg, Mo., native, had 12 strikeouts and only allowed two hits.
 
Kamara Trice brought life back to the FHU lineup and its fans, as she led the inning off with a home run to left and the Lady Lions were now down just 2-1. After Bowden struck out her 13^th batter of the game, Bailey Morgan was hit-by-pitch, but was forced out at second, after Cousar reached on a fielder's choice.
 
Natalie Nelson then hit a two-out double to right-center, scoring Cousar and the game was now all tied up at 2-2. The Lady Lions had a chance to take the lead, but Bowden got Allie Carpenter to line out and end inning.
 
After a scoreless home half of the seventh, it was off to extra innings. In the top of the eighth, Kohnley Wade led off with a single, and after consecutive strikeouts, Trice singled to right, putting runners on first and second. Amanda Bond, however, couldn't continue the inning, as she flied out to left.
 
In the home half of the eighth, hot-hitting Murphy reached on a walk, and advanced to second on a passed ball during Macy Wierschem's at-bat. After a fly-out by Wierschem, Sam Parsons reached on an error, which moved Murphy on over to third.
 
Cousar, however, wasn't bothered by the winning run at third base, as she retired the next two batters the Owls brought to the plate and kept the 2-2 tie intact for FHU.
 
Bowden made quick work of the Lady Lions in the top of the ninth and the offense finally got the better of Cousar and FHU in the bottom of the inning. After a fly-out and a ground-out, junior Kacey Scharnhorst liked the first pitch she saw, as she turned on the inside offering from Cousar and sent it over the right field wall, to give WWU the walk-off 3-2 victory.
 
The career-year for Bowden continues, as she picked up her 19^th victory on the season, while striking out 16 batters, which is also a new career-high.
 
Offensively, the Owls totaled eight hits, led by Murphy going 2-for-2 with two home runs, two runs scored and two RBI. Scharnhorst went 1-for-4, but her lone hit was a big one for the team, while Sydnae Hatton also contributed two hits.

William Woods University 6 Park University 3
In game two, it was the Owls meeting up with the No. 3-seeded Park University Pirates, who defeated the No. 2 seed Columbia College, 4-3 in game one.
 
It was the Pirates grabbing the advantage in the bottom of the first, as Brooke Kunkel doubled to left, which scored leadoff hitter Callie Beaver, who led the inning off with a single and gave Park the 1-0 lead.
 
That advantage, however, was short-lived, as in the top of the third, the Owls scored two runs on two hits and were helped out by four Pirate errors and at the end of three innings, WWU was up 2-1.
 
In the top of the fourth, William Woods gained some breathing room, as Scharnhorst hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Sam Parsons from third and put the Owls ahead 3-1.
 
In the top of the fifth, Murphy hit her third home run on the day over the center field wall on a 2-0 count, which extended the lead to 4-1. Later in the inning, Parsons hit a sacrifice fly to right, which scored Wierschem from third, who reached on a walk and now the Owls were up 5-1.
 
The Pirates were finally able to get on the board again against WWU starter Becca Schemmer, as Kim Breyfogle hit a two-run home run over the right-center field wall and Park trailed by just two runs at the end of five innings.
 
That would be as close as Park would get the rest of the game, as the Owls would go on and add another run in the seventh and hold on for the three-run victory.
 
The offense totaled nine hits in the game, led by Murphy and Lindsey LeCuru each going 2-for-4 with one run scored and contributing one RBI. Scharnhorst went 0-for-2 at the dish, but added two RBI, while Hannah Campbell, Shelby LeCuru, Wierschem, Parsons and Hatton added one hit a piece.
 
On the mound, Schemmer earned her 12^th victory on the year, setting a new career-high for herself, as the Huntsville, Mo., native went 6.1 innings, allowing three runs on nine hits and struck out two. Bowden came on in relief of Schemmer in the seventh and picked up the save, striking out the final two batters of the game.
 
Kaily Purtle took the loss for the Pirates, as she went four innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on seven hits and struck out one. The 1-2-3 hitters of Beaver, Britanee Willard and Kunkel combined for six of the teams nine hits in the game.
 
The doubleheader victory extends the Owls winning streak to 12 games and will now look to win its 13^th in a row tomorrow afternoon at Antimi Softball Complex in the AMC Championship game.
 
William Woods will play the winner of Columbia College and Park University at 2 p.m. on field one. The if necessary game will be played at 4 p.m.
 
Fans stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and scores from Columbia, Mo.