FULTON, Mo. – The (RV) William Woods University baseball team will return to the diamond in a home weekend series against Harris-Stowe State University, after its doubleheader earlier this week was postponed due to weather conditions, the team will look to extend its win streak and move up in the American Midwest Conference (AMC) standings. The first pitch is set for 3:00 p.m. on Saturday in a nine inning match-up. Then followed with a doubleheader action to close the series on Sunday, starting at 1:00 p.m.
The Owls (17-6; 5-3 AMC) are coming off a three game series against Williams Baptist College last weekend, that saw WWU take two of the three games, to win the series and put the Owls back in second place in the AMC standings on the season.
William Woods dropped the first game against WBC 5-1 despite outhitting the Eagles 9-3, but then turned things around and picked up the doubleheader sweep, taking game two 7-3 and then closing the series with a 3-0 shutout.
Offensively,
Nick Spagnola had the hot bat at the plate, as the senior went 7-for-12 in the three games against WBC, collecting two RBI's and scoring one run. On the mound,
James Ball pitched nine innings on the series, as the Hillsboro, Missouri native, didn't allow a single run, only gave up two hits and collected 10 strikeouts in the 33 batters he faced. Â
On the season, WWU is hitting .294 as a team, outhitting its opponents 196-130 and amassing 124 runs on the year. Spagnola paces the way for the Owls, hitting .388 from the dish, while collecting a team-high 33 hits and 13 stolen bases. Four other players for William Woods are hitting .300 or above, which includes
Austin Clapp,
Cody Stewart,
Alex St. Pierre and
Larry Price.
Jordan Dey, the clean-up hitter for WWU has amassed a team-high 21 RBI's and six home runs on the year.
On the hill, the Owls ranks No. 1 in the nation with a team ERA of 1.96, while holding opponents to just a .197 batting average. Ball leads the pitching staff with an ERA of 1.32 in 27.1 innings of work, recording two wins and three saves on the season, while
John Cavness leads the team with 34 strikeouts and has earned an ERA of 2.65 in 34.0 innings pitched, as he has collected four wins.
Harris-Stowe is currently 9-11 on the season and 3-6 in AMC standings. The Hornets are on a three game skid, as its last outing the team fell 14-2 to Missouri Baptist University earlier this week. HSSU was outhit 11-4 by the Spartans, as Zach Jones paced the offense for Harris-Stowe, going 1-for-2 from the plate, plating one of the teams three RBI's and scoring a run in the match-up.
On the season, the Hornets are hitting .267 as a team, collecting 159 hits on the season, while amassing 10 home runs on the year. There are four Hornet players that are hitting .300 or above, which includes Andres Alburjas, who is leading HSSU with a .360 batting average on the season. Alejandro Infante, is another impact player for the Hornets, as he is hitting .319 at the dish, while leading the team in hits (22), RBI's (21) and homeruns (three). On the mound, the Hornets have earned a team ERA of 5.88, as Brady Swift leads the pitching staff with an ERA of 4.80, while he has collected a team-high 26 strikeouts, one win and one loss in 30.0 innings of work.
The Owls hold an all-time record of 41-29 over the Hornets, as the team took the three game series last season 2-1, outscoring HSSU 35-20 in the three game match-up.
Fans check back on wwuowls.com tomorrow evening for a full recap and score of the nine-inning AMC showdown from Owls Field.
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