Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- The No. 3-seeded William Woods University baseball team broke a 5-5 tie in the top of the ninth inning, as they plated three runs in the frame to defeat No. 1-seeded Missouri Baptist University, 8-6, and advance to the American Midwest Conference Tournament Championship for the second straight season. The win also gives WWU one of the conference's automatic bids to the NAIA National Tournament.
William Woods (38-10, 19-8 AMC) advances to its second consecutive AMC Championship on Saturday afternoon, as they took advantage of two Missouri Baptist (44-11, 22-5 AMC) errors in the frame, which enabled them to score three times, and break a 5-5 stalemate.
The Owls got their first two runners on in the top of the ninth with a walk and a Spartan error on a misplayed grounder to the pitcher's mound. Sam Moon got hit by a pitch to load the bases for WWU without the benefit of a hit. After a pop-out, Matt Thomas broke the 5-5 deadlock with a RBI single to left-centerfield.
Zach Nichols followed Thomas' at-bat up with a sacrifice fly, scoring Javier Ledesma, to push the William Woods' lead to two. Nick Spagnola hit a grounder to second base in the next at-bat, but the second baseman bobbled the ball for MBU's second error of the inning, as Moon crossed the plate to give his team the 8-5 advantage.
Dylan Hastings, who entered the game in the eighth inning and moved to third base in favor of Thomas, who got the final out in the frame, retook the mound in the bottom of the ninth to try and slam the door on the No. 8-ranked team in the NAIA. After allowing a lead-off home run to Joseph Stropp, the Vista, California native was able to regroup and get the next two batters to fly out and ground out. The hard-throwing righty ended the game with a strike out Vincenzo Fresquez, to pick up his second save of the season, and only the third of his career.
The win not only puts William Woods in the AMC Championship, but it gives the team one of the two automatic bids that the AMC has for the NAIA National Tournament. It is the first time that the Owls have qualified for the National Tournament since the 2011 season.
Thomas picked up the win for WWU, as he faced Eli Roundtree, who tied the game with a grand slam in the seventh, in the bottom of the eighth with two outs, and got him to fly out to second base with the potential go-ahead run standing at third base. The decision is the first of any kind for the Owls former closer, as he has appeared in just three games this season on the mound.
Bubba Bradshaw got the start for William Woods, and was spotted a 5-0 lead, as he had a shutout going entering the fifth inning. The starter was unable to get out of the frame, as he was relieved by Ryan Schmidt with one out, before James Ball came in to close out the frame after a run was scored.
Ball had an unusually rough outing for the Owls, as he allowed four runs, three earned, on three hits in 2.2 innings of work. All the damage against Ball came in the seventh inning, as Roundtree blasted a grand slam to tie the game at 5-5.
WWU's offense stayed hot on Saturday afternoon, scoring eight runs on nine hits. In three AMC Tournament games, the Owls are hitting .330 (35-for-106), and have scored an average of 10.3 runs per game.
Not only did Thomas come up big on the mound, but he also had a strong day at the plate, as he picked up his second straight three-hit game in the victory. The Brashear, Missouri native went 3-for-5 with a team-high three RBIs with a two-run single in the fifth, followed by the go-ahead RBI single in the ninth.
Cody Stewart and Nick Spagnola also had a multiply-hit game on Saturday, as they collected two hits apiece. Spagnola also had a multi-RBI game, driving in two runs with a pair of RBI singles in the fifth and ninth inning.
Carl Jameson suffered the loss for Missouri Baptist, as the reliever allowed all three runs in the ninth inning to collect his second loss to William Woods this season, and his third of the year.
Michael Yarborough got the start for MBU, and the Owls made it tough on him, as the starter allowed a season-high five runs, all earned, on seven hits, and struck out only two in five innings of work.
Offensively, Trevin Craig, Orlando Olivera, and Ryan Clarke each had a two-hit performance against the Owls pitching staff on Saturday. The Spartans out-hit WWU, 10-9 in the losing effort.
The entire tournament will come to a halt on Sunday, as it is a designated off-day. Play will resume on Monday, as William Woods will be playing in the AMC Championship at 4 p.m. WWU will play the winner of Missouri Baptist and the winner of tonight's Freed-Hardeman/Park University matchup. That game will also take place on Monday afternoon, as first-pitch is set for 1 p.m. The Owls will need to win just one game in the championship round, if they do lose, the tournament's final game will be played on Tuesday.
Fans can click here to see the full AMC Tournament bracket. Also, fans looking for either audio or video of Monday's game click on the link here.
