BARTLESVILLE, Okla.— The No. 19-ranked William Woods University softball split its season opening series against Oklahoma Wesleyan University on Saturday afternoon, as the Owls won game one 8-6, but fell in game two, 10-8.

No. 19 William Woods University 8 Oklahoma Wesleyan 6
"We were able to score early and late which is always good," said head coach Tracy Gastineau. "We had some highlights, as Sydnae Hatton and Emily Murphy hit the ball extremely well and Shelby LeCuru had an outstanding game at shortstop."
 
The Owls (1-1), got the scoring started in the top of the first inning, as to get things going, Hannah Campbell reached base on a one out walk.
 
After advancing to second on a groundout from Kacey Scharnhorst, Murphy picked up right where she left off from last year, as she ripped a double to center, scoring Campbell and giving WWU the 1-0 lead.
 
In the top of the second, the offense continued to roll, as Macy Wierschem led the inning off with an infield single. After a sacrifice bunt by Caroline Sicht and a strikeout, senior Sam Parsons worked a two out walk, putting runners on first and second.
 
Hatton then came to the dish and singled to right, collecting her first RBI on the year, as Wierschem scored, to make it 2-0 Owls. Also, after Wierschem crossed the plate, OKWU's (1-1) catcher threw down to second in an attempt to tag out an advancing Hatton.
 
Shortstop Dakota Bottoms received the ball, but her throw to first went high over the first baseman's head, which allowed Parsons to score from third, to extend WWU's lead to 3-0.
 
In the bottom of the second, OKWU got one of those runs back, as Katelyn Cook led the inning off for the Lady Eagles with a double to left. Then, during Kristie Bell's at-bat, staring pitcher Julie Scheer threw a wild pitch, which allowed Cook to move on over to third base.
 
Scheer was able to retire Bell on the next pitch, as she got her to ground out to short, which kept Cook at third. Cook was able to score during the next plate appearance, however, as another wild pitch from Scheer allowed Cook to score, which cut the Owls lead down to 3-1 after two innings of play.
 
In the top of the third, Scharnhorst led the inning off with a walk and was able to score on Murphy's triple to center, which put the Owls back up by three runs (4-1).
 
That lead, however, was cut to one in the home half of the inning, as after consecutive walks to Hannah Sharum and Courtney Gililland, Cook hit a one out single to left, which scored the duo and in the process, put OKWU down 4-3.
 
The Lady Eagles were then able to get the bases loaded with two outs, which prompted coach Gastineau to bring in freshman hurler Allison Waskow.
 
The Canton, Illinois, native, came up big for William Woods, as she got Heather Jones to ground out to third and keep OKWU from doing any more damage.
 
"She threw a lot of pitches today, but did what we needed her to do, which was get ground ball outs," said Gastineau.  
 
The scoring frenzy continued into the top of the fourth, as Sicht led the inning off with an infield single. The senior was then able to advance to second on a sacrifice bunt from Megan Cooper. After a ground out, during Hatton's at-bat, Sicht was able to score on a wild pitch from Makayla Kelly, which put the Owls back on top, 5-3.
 
OKWU answered right back in the bottom of the fourth, as Bottoms was hit-by-pitch to start the inning. Sharum then came to the dish and hit a double to left, which put runners on second and third for Gililland.  
 
Waskow got Gililland to ground out to short for the first out and then got Selena Lopez to ground out to short as well, but Bottoms was able to score on the play, putting the deficit down to 5-4.  
 
In the bottom of the fifth, OKWU took its first lead of the game at 6-5, after Bottoms hit a two out double to left field, which scored Desireee Cavazos and Mayan MezaTovar.
 
WWU answered right back In the top of the sixth, as Sicht hit a single to left, which scored LeCuru from third, who led the inning off with a single of her own, to tie the game at 6-6.
 
The Owls put the game away in the top of the seventh, as they plated two more runs, getting RBI from LeCuru and Wierschem and with Waskow on the mound, the team was able to close it out and hold on for the wild two run victory.
 
WWU totaled nine hits in the game and were led by Murphy going 2-for-3 with a team-high two RBI. Wierschem and Sicht, meanwhile, each contributed two hits, an RBI and a runs scored.
 
Scheer picked up her first win on the season, as she went 2.2 innings pitched, allowing three runs (two earned) and struck out one. Waskow, meanwhile, picked up her first save in her young career, as she went 4 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on five hits and struck out one.
 
Oklahoma Wesleyan 10 No. 19 William Woods University 8
It was another wild game two between the Owls and the Lady Eagles, as the teams' combined for 18 runs and 18 hits.
 
It was William Woods again jumping out to the early lead in the first inning, as Brailee Schulte earned herself a two out double to center, which scored Hatton and Scharnhorst, to give the Owls a 2-0 lead.
 
The Lady Eagles, however, would tie the game up in the next two innings, as Gililland stole home in the bottom of the first to cut the lead to 2-1, then in the bottom of the second, Shepherd worked a bases loaded walk, which tied the game at 2-2.
 
In the bottom of the third, the Lady Eagles plated four runs on three hits, with the highlight of the inning coming off the bat of Lopez, who hit a bases clearing two out triple, which put OKWU ahead, 6-2 after three innings of play.
 
The hot-hitting Owls offense responded with three runs in the top of the fourth, as Murphy led the inning off with a double. After a fly-out and a walk, Alexi Cavins singled to center, which loaded up the bases for Madison McCormick.
 
McCormick, a Marceline, Missouri, native, earned a walk, scoring Murphy and putting WWU down 6-3. Then, Scheer reached base after an error by the Lady Eagle defense, which scored Sicht to make it a 6-4 game.
 
After Kim Billie collected a strikeout, Hatton hit a two out single to right, scoring Cavins and put the Owls down just 6-5.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, OKWU went ahead 9-5, after scoring three runs on two hits and were helped out by one error. In the top of the sixth, the Owls yet again responded, scoring two runs on two hits, as Scheer hit a sacrifice fly which scored Parsons, who pinch-ran for Cavins and Campbell's single to center, scored McCormick, whom reached base with a one out single.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Eagles took a two run lead at 10-8, after scoring off an Owls error in the infield.
 
WWU continued to battle in the top of the seventh inning, as after two quick outs, Sicht reached base on a walk. Hillary Hentges then pinch-hit for Parsons and she reached base on an error by the Lady Eagles, which put runners on first and second.
 
Wierschem pinch-hit for McCormick and she singled to left, which loaded up the bases for LeCuru. During the at-bat, a passed ball allowed pinch-runner Brittany Bexten to score to make it 10-8 and move the runners up a base. Billie, however, got LeCuru to strikeout and secure the two run victory for the Lady Eagles.
 
The Owls totaled eight hits and were led by Hatton going 2-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI. Schulte and Scheer each contributed two RBI, while Campbell and McCormick totaled one a piece.
 
On the mound, freshman Bre Logan got her first collegiate start, but went only 2.1 innings, allowing three runs on three hits, walked eight batters and struck out three.
 
"The umpire's zone for Bre (Logan) was tight and their hitters weren't chasing her elevated ball," Gastineau said. "She is right there though and this is a good learning experience to learn from."
 
She added, "We had contributions up-and-down the lineup, which is good for us and we have to build off that. We didn't play well in the last game and we have to sit on that for 10 days now, but we will get back on the field and work on some things that need to be fixed."
 
The Owls will return to action on February 17^th on the road, as they travel to McKendree University. First-pitch of the double header will be thrown at 1 p.m.
 
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com for full previews and recaps on the softball team.