BELLEVILLE, Ill. – The William Woods University baseball team will return to the diamond Friday afternoon for a nine-inning match-up against Lindenwood-Belleville University, set to begin at 2:00 p.m. The Owls will conclude the weekend series with a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, with the first pitch scheduled for 12:00 p.m.
After a thriller come from behind extra inning 5-3 victory, earlier this week against non-conference foe Avila University, the Owls (21-6; 8-3AMC) looks to grab three wins this weekend to improve its American Midwest Conference record.
In the teams last outing, that saw WWU 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 sent to extra innings. The Owls would then add two more runs in the top of the eighth to secure the 5-3 victory, outhitting AU 11-7.
Larry Price,
Austin Clapp and
Nick 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,
James Ball would record the win, as he came in relief to pitch 3.2 scoreless innings, as the senior didn't allow a single hit and struck out four batters.
Game two, of the doubleheader against Avila was postponed after completing six innings, due to weather and is rescheduled to finish on April 14
th, as the Eagles pay a visit to Owls Field to conclude the season series between both teams. Throughout the sixth innings, it was a back in forth game while the game is all tied up 5-5, as the Owls were outhitting AU 10-8.
On the season, Spagnola is leading the Owls with a .396 batting average and a team-high 22 hits, as the senior is on a four game hit streak. Clapp, another Owl that is having a strong senior season, is second on the team hitting .380 and has recorded 19 RBI's from the plate, while leading the team with six doubles. Five other players for WWU are hitting above .302 on the year, pushing the team's batting average to .311 on the year.
On the mound, Ball has earned an ERA of 2.02 in 35.2 innings pitched, recording three wins and a team-high four saves on the season. The senior has also amassed 40 strikeouts, which is best on the WWU pitching staff.
John Cavness has also been a go to for Coach Munns, as the starter has a perfect 5-0 record on the year, while earning a 2.70 ERA and has sat down 36 batters.
Lindenwood-Belleville is currently 12-18 on the season and 8-6 in AMC play. In the Lynxs last outing, LU dropped two games to Cumberland University, falling 10-6 in the first game and then was defeated 11-5 in the final game of the doubleheader.
Offensively, LU is batting .251 as a team, as Dylan Skinner is leading the way with a .371 batting average and collecting a team-high 39 hits on the season. Two other LU players are hitting above .300 and will be players the Owls will have to keep an eye on, which are Christian Cavaness and Matt Lawver. Caveness, is also leading the team with 20 RBI's and 15 stolen bases on the year.
On the hill, for Lindenwood-Belleville, Dylan Arval has earned an ERA of 4.73 in 40.0 innings of work, while Mike Sabatino has recorded a team-high of 38 strikeouts.
The Owls are currently sitting in second place in the AMC standings only two games behind leader, Missouri Baptist University and in hopes of this three game series sweep, it would extend WWU win streak to nine.
Fans check back on wwuowls.com tomorrow for a full recap and score of this AMC showdown.
