COLUMBUS, Ga.—The No. 19-ranked William Woods University softball team heads to Columbus, Georgia for three games this weekend. On Friday, the Owls will play in a doubleheader against Ave Maria University (Fla.) at 5 p.m. ET (4 p.m. CT) and Belhaven University (Miss.) at 7:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. CT). The Owls will end the weekend, on Saturday, by taking on Corban University (Ore.) at 12:30 p.m. (11:30 a.m. CT).
The Owls (2-4), are coming off a 1-3 road-trip in Oklahoma this past weekend, as they dropped its first two games against University of Science and Arts (Okla.) 12-0 (6 innings) and Mid-America Christian University (Okla.), 8-4.
The team, however, responded with a 9-2 win over (RV) MidAmerica Nazarene on Saturday, before falling to Friends University, 11-0 (5 innings).
During those four games, the offense batted .324 and were led by reigning American Midwest Conference (AMC) Player of the Week,
Hannah Campbell, as the sophomore batted a team-high .545 (6-for-11), with four runs scored, one double, one triple, a slugging percentage of .818, an on-base percentage of .615 and went 2-for-2 in the stolen base department.
Junior
Emily Murphy hit her way to a .538 average (7-for-13), with one scored, two doubles and tied for the team lead with three RBI. Also contributing three RBI included
Caroline Sicht and
Macy Wierschem, who batted .444 and .429 on the weekend.
On the mound, AMC Pitcher of the Week,
Bre Logan, led the pitching staff, as the freshman picked up her first collegiate victory against MidAmerica Nazarene. In two appearances, Logan collected a 5.25 ERA in 12.0 innings pitched, while striking out seven batters.
On the season, the Owls are currently hitting .314, while totaling three triples and 10 doubles on the season.
William Woods is being lead in hitting by senior catcher Wierschem. The Waterloo, Illinois, native, is batting .545 (6-for-11), with four runs scored, and four RBI in five games played. Murphy is hitting .500 (10-for-20) with a team-high five RBI, while Campbell, is batting .444 (8-for-18) with one triple, three doubles, and one RBI.
On the rubber, WWU is led by Logan, who is 1-0 in two starts, with an ERA of 5.37 and has totaled 10 strikeouts. Another freshman,
Allison Waskow, is 1-2 on the year, while owning 6.20 ERA and has added seven strikeouts.
Ave Maria University (Fla.) is currently 5-9 on the season, as they have lost five of their last six games including two to NCAA Division 1 Oakland University Wednesday night.
The Gyrenes are hitting .257 as a team with 16 doubles, four triples, and one homerun. Ave Maria University is led by Cheyenne Benson, who is hitting .361 (13-for-36) with three doubles, one homerun, six RBI, and seven runs scored.
The Owls will also have to watch out for Alyssa Colding, who is hitting .351 (13-for-37) with four doubles, one triple, six RBI, and seven runs scored.
Benson is also the leading pitcher for Ave Maria, with a record of 2-5 and an ERA of 2.04. She has added 37 strikeouts to just 14 walks in 44.2 innings pitched. Emily Lemin is 2-4, while earning an ERA of 4.61, with 18 strikeouts and 21 walks in 41 innings pitched.
At 7:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. CT) on Friday, the Owls will take on Belhaven University (Miss.) (5-3), who is coming into this weekend winning four of their last five games.
The Blazers are hitting .399 on the season with 14 doubles, two triples, and six homeruns. Ashlee Hitt, is batting .480 (12-for-25) with one double, two homeruns and 13 RBI in eight games on the season. Josie Porter is second on the team batting .455 (10-for-22), while adding one double.
Belhaven has a team ERA of 3.08, while striking out 35 and walking 15. The Blazers are led in the pitching department by Jordan Herring who is 3-0 and has an ERA of 1.78, to go along with 11 strikeouts and six walks in 23.3 innings pitched.
On Saturday the Owls will take on Corban University (Ore.) (9-1). Corban University is coming into this weekend on an eight game winning streak, as they have outscored their opponents 60-18 in that stretch.
The Warriors are hitting .347 on the year with 23 doubles and 18 homeruns and a slugging percentage of .612.
Corban is led in hitting by Anne Binschus, who is hitting .733 (14-for-30) with two doubles, two homeruns, and 10 RBI. Jamie Costa is second on the team, batting .438 (7-for-16) with two doubles, two homeruns, and six RBI.
The Warriors have a team ERA of 2.26, while having a K/BB ratio of 44/22. Opponents are hitting just .244 against the staff this year, which is led by Danielle Horne, who is 2-0 with a 1.21 ERA in 17.1 innings pitched. Emily Buhrkuhl is also perfect on the year with a 5-0 record, while owning a 1.29 ERA and has struck out 17 batters.
Fans be sure to updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and scores from Columbus, Georgia.
