KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The William Woods University baseball team defeated Avila University 5-3, in a thriller extra inning game one of the scheduled doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon, as the second game was called after the sixth inning due to darkness with the Owls and Eagles tied 5-5.
 
The Owls(21-6;8-3 AMC) were able to plate two clutch runs in the top of the seventh inning, to tie game one and after not letting the Eagles put a run on the board in their half of the seventh, it was off to extra innings. WWU would then add two more runs in the top of the eighth to secure the 5-3 victory, outhitting AU 11-7.
 
Then in game two of the doubleheader action, after completing sixth innings with the score tied at 5-5, was called due to darkness and will be completed right where it was left off when the Eagles pay a visit to Owls Field later this month. The first pitch to resume is set for 5:00 p.m. April 14^th and then followed by a nine inning game to conclude the season series between WWU and Avila University.
 
In game one, it was Avila to strike first, as the Eagles Troy Prasertsit led off with a single and as Kenny Baker came in to pitch run for Prasertsit, scored to make it an early Eagles 1-0 lead after Kyle Simmons doubled to deep right field.
 
AU would add another run to its advantage in the bottom of the third inning off two hits. Simmons would get the rally started for the Eagles with a single to shallow left-center, followed by a Chandler walk and then with a Keen double, Simmons would cross the plate to make it a 2-0 Eagles lead. The run also forced the Owls Dylan Hastings to come into relief for starter Kyle Marburger.
 
After three scoreless innings, WWU offense would come to  alive in the top of the fourth inning, with a two out single from Nick Spagnola and after Spagnola collected his 10^th stolen base putting himself in scoring position for the Owls. Javier Ledesma came in to pinch hit for WWU, doubling down left field line, scoring Spagnola and cutting the Eagles lead to 2-1. However, AU would respond by getting the run back in the bottom of their inning to extend its lead to 3-1
 
Then in the Owls last chance, in the top of the seventh, WWU plated the tying two runs on three hits, as Ledesma drew a walk and then followed by a Stephen Kohler single, putting runners on first and second for William Woods.  Then down to the teams last out of the game, Larry Price came up with a big two-out single to left field scoring Ledesma. Cody Stewart would then also come up with a key two-out single to score Kohler for the equalizing run to make the game tied at 3-3.
 
With James Ball on the mound for the Owls and getting the Eagles to go three up three down, in the bottom of the seventh, sending the game into extra innings. The Owls would score two runs on two hits and shut down the side for Avila to go on to secure the 5-3 game one victory.
 
Price, Austin Clapp and Spagnola all went 2-for-4 from the plate, while Spagnola plated two runs and recorded a stolen base on the day. On the mound, Ball would record the win, as he came in relief to pitch 3.2 innings not giving up a single hit or run, while striking out four batters.
 
In game two, Avila was able to take the early 3-0 lead, as they were able to score in the first inning again, However WWU would get one run of those runs back in the top of the second and third inning, making the score tied 4-2 still in the Eagles favor. Then the Owls would have a big sixth inning, plating three runs on three hits, to take the lead 5-4. The Eagles scored one run in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game, right before the game getting called due to darkness, as the Owls are outhitting AU 10-8.
 
The Owls will be set to resume this game with two innings left in hopes to take the doubleheader sweep on April 14^th, till then WWU  will return to the field on Friday, as the team gets back to take on an American Midwest Conference foe Lindenwood-Belleville University. The first pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. in Belleville, Illinois.
 
Fans stay updated on wwuowls.com for a full preview of this AMC match-up later this week.

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