COLUMBIA, Mo.—The No. 5-seeded William Woods University softball team starts its run at defending the American Midwest Conference (AMC) Tournament crown it earned last year on Wednesday, as the Owls will take on No. 4-seeded Freed-Hardeman University at Antimi Softball Complex. First-pitch is set for 11 a.m.
After a rather up-and-down regular season, the Owls (27-22; 16-8 AMC), were able to close out the year on an impressive note, winning eight out of its last nine, including claiming victory in the final seven games.
During the last seven outings, the offense batted .367 and totaled 49 RBI, while the pitching staff, earned an ERA of 1.59 and held opposing hitters to just a .205 batting average.
Sophomore
Beth Begemann, is batting a team-high .636 in her last five appearances, while scoring four runs and adding one RBI. Senior
Julie Scheer owns a .444 average (8-for-18), with five runs scored, one home run and two RBI, while fellow senior,
Kacey Scharnhorst, is hitting .429 (9-for-21), with eight runs scored, three doubles, two triples and seven RBI.
Junior
Sydnae Hatton owns a .375 average with four runs scored, while
Shelby LeCuru is batting .353, with four runs scored and five RBI.
On the rubber, the trio of
Julie Scheer,
Bre Logan and
Allison Waskow have been dominant in 44.0 innings of work, as they have combined to strike out 35 batters and surrender just 10 earned runs.
Scheer and Logan both are 2-0, with Scheer having a 0.00 ERA in 9.0 innings, while Logan has an ERA of 1.00. Waskow, meanwhile, has collected a team-high three wins, to go along with an ERA of 2.67 and has struck out a team-high 15 batters.
On the year, WWU was able to up its season average to .310 and are led by
Emily Murphy's .360 average, while adding 10 doubles and 24 RBI. Hatton is hitting .341, with 22 runs scored, while Scharnhorst, is right behind Hatton with a .340 average and leads the Owls with 43 RBI.
Sophomore
Hannah Campbell had an impressive regular season at the dish, batting .336, with 32 runs scored and a team-high 23 stolen bases.
Brailee Schulte is hitting a respectable .322, while
Caroline Sicht is hitting .308, with a team-high six home runs and 30 RBI.
Inside the circle, Waskow, a Canton, Illinois, native, led the Owls in her first year in wins (11), ERA (2.71), complete games (17), innings pitched (149.2), earned runs (58) and strikeouts (119). Scheer held an ERA of 3.41 and won four games in her eight appearances, while Logan went 10-8 with an ERA of 3.89 and struck out 99 hitters.
Last year in the AMC Tournament, after sweeping the best-of-three series in the AMC Quarterfinals against Hannibal-LaGrange, the team earned a 3-2 win in nine innings against Freed-Hardeman and followed that up, with a 6-3 win over Park University, to advance onto the finals.
In the title game, the Owls dominated host Columbia College, as they shutout the Cougars 6-0, to earn the AMC Championship.
This year, the Owls have drawn No. 4-seeded Freed-Hardeman (24-15; 16-8 AMC), in the first round, who split the regular season series with the Owls, winning game one 10-2, but WWU won the finale, 5-3. The Lady Lions closed out the season with another split against Park University, again taking game one, 4-2, but lost 8-2 in the night cap.
On the year, FHU, has a team batting average of .348 and are led by Kamara Trice, who is hitting .432, with 51 hits, 42 runs scored, 10 doubles, one triple, 12 home runs and 47 RBI. Caitlyn Carter is batting .410, with 27 runs scored, while Jessica Weeks and Lauren Bradley, are batting .394 and .388 respectively and have combined for 43 RBI and 61 runs scored.
Trice, also leads the pitching staff, with nine wins in 14 starts, while having an ERA of 3.60 in 81.2 innings pitched. Mallory Spurlock, meanwhile, is 8-4 with a 3.98 ERA and has struck out a team-high 48 batters.
If the Owls win against FHU, they will play again on Wednesday at 3 p.m., on Field 1, against the winner of Lindenwood-Belleville and Williams Baptist College. If WWU falls against the Lady Lions, they will play at 1 p.m., against the losing team between LU-Belleville and WBC.
To view the entire AMC Bracket, visit
HERE.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com for a full recap and scores from Antimi Sports Complex tomorrow night.
