FULTON, Mo. – The (RV) William Woods University baseball team had eight different players collect a hit on Friday afternoon, as the offense over powered Hannibal-LaGrange University in blowout fashion, defeating the Trojans 11-1 (7 innings) to take the first game of the weekend's three-game American Midwest Conference (AMC) series.
The Owls (25-8; 12-5 AMC) offensive lineup helped the team post its second straight double-digit scoring outing of the week, as WWU totaled 11 runs on 14 hits to give them the momentum heading into tomorrow's doubleheader action with the Trojans.
William Woods two hole hitter,
Cody Stewart had a day from the plate, as the senior went 4-for-5, while one of those hits from his bat was his second home run of the year and first grand slam, as he plated a team-high eight RBI's and scored two runs. The Temecula, California native, was a triple short of hitting for the cycle, as he collected a double, home run and two singles.
Three Owls also recorded a pair of hits, which included
Dustin Kremer,
Javier Ledesma, and
Grant Garrett, as Kremer and Garrett chipped in two RBI's a piece on the day, while Ledesma crossed the plate twice.
Spagnola, used his speed to cause havoc for the Trojans, as the senior went 1-for-2 from the dish, beating out a soft grounder to the pitching mound for an infield single, then recorded his 13 stolen base on the year which is the best on the team.
Konrad Kemper and
Patrick Dillion also got into the action, as both were called into pinch hit for the owls, while both recording singles in timely situations to have them going a perfect 1-for-1 on the day.
Larry Price, the Owls leadoff hitter also tallied a hit, while he started the rally for the team in the bottom of the first inning with a leadoff single and ended the day going 1-for-3, while scoring two runs.
Just like most of the season, starting pitcher
John Cavness gave the Owls the start they needed to cruise past the Trojans, as the junior had a shut out going into the fifth inning, collecting his sixth win on the season, while giving up seven hits, only allowing one run and striking out eight batters. He was then relieved by
Garrett Haslag, who came into pitch one inning to secure the 11-1 (7 inning) victory over Hannibal-LaGrange.
The Owls struck early, WWU plated two runs on three hits in the bottom of the first inning after a single and stolen base put Price in scoring position, as Stewart collected his first RBI with a single to left field scoring Price. Then later in the inning, with bases loaded
Jordan Dey scored Clapp on a fielder's choice, to give the Owls an early 2-0 lead.
Shortly after, the WWU added four more runs to its advantage on two hits, as HLG committed two errors in the bottom of the second, putting the Owls up 6-0.
HLG, however, got a run on the board in the top of the fifth, as Derek Shawn led off with a single, as Eduardo Ibarra put down a sacrifice bunt to move Shawn up 90 feet, while Drew Morecraft would score Shawn with a single to left field, making the score 6-1 still in the Owls favor.
Despite giving up a run, WWU would respond in its half of the inning, as Stewart crushed a ball to deep right center over the fence with bases loaded for his first grand slam of the year and extending the Owls lead to 10-1. Then with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning and bases loaded again, who else but Stewart, came up with a walk off single to score the 11
th run for the Owls and take game one from Hannibal-LaGrange 11-1.
The Trojans recorded one run on nine hits on the day, as the team couldn't get the timely hit stranding eight base runners in the game. Morecraft, led the way for HLG going 3-for-4 from the plate, while Seth Brown chipped in a pair of hits.
"I was pleased with all facets of the game today," said head coach
Darren Munns. "Cavness gave us another great start and we had some timely hitting."
Munns, added "Tomorrow's a new day and we will have to play well again versus a very good HLG team."
The Owls and Trojans match up tomorrow with a doubleheader action to conclude the three game series on the weekend. The first pitch from Owls field is set for 1:00 p.m.
Fans check back on wwuowls.com tomorrow for a full recap of both games.
