BELLEVILLE, Ill.— The (RV) William Woods University baseball team dropped a tough 2-1 outing in game one of the best of three series against Lindenwood University-Belleville, on Friday afternoon.
The Owls (21-7; 8-4 AMC), got another quality start from starter
John Cavness, as the junior went 6.2 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on seven hits and struck out two, but unfortunately, the southpaw suffered his first loss on the year.
Senior,
James Ball, came on in relief of Cavness and was just as effective, allowing no runs on no hits in 1.1 innings on the mound, while striking out three batters.
The offense was limited to five hits in the game and were led by
Javier Ledesma going 2-for-4.
Patrick Dillion went 1-for-3 with one RBI, while
Cody Stewart and
Dustin Kremer contributed one hit a piece.
The Lynx (13-18; 9-6 AMC), got the scoring started in the bottom of the third, as Pete Colclasure and Sean Keeney recorded back-to-back one out singles, which put runners on the corners for Christian Cavaness. He was able to reach base on a fielder's choice, allowing Colclasure to score from third and give LU-Belleville the 1-0 lead.
They added another run in the bottom of the fourth, but were helped out by two Owl defensive errors. The Lynx grabbed the 2-0 lead, after Jaren Linton scored on a passed ball, as he reached base earlier in the inning on a dropped fly ball.
WWU would respond, however, in the top of the fifth, as after
Konrad Kemper worked a one out walk, Ledesma smacked a double, putting the tying run on second for the Owls.
A.J. Sitko then came on in relief of starter Cody Calhoun, and he got the next Owls batter to strikeout, but couldn't retire freshman Dillion, as the St. Joseph, Missouri, native, singled to left, scoring Kemper, while tallying his second RBI on the year and the Owls first run on the day, to cut the deficit down to 2-1, after five innings of play.
Pitching took over the next three innings of play, which kept the score at 2-1, as the two squads headed into the top of the ninth.
Things started off very well for the Owls as they searched to tie or take the lead in the inning, as Kremer led the inning off with a double to left-center.
Sitko, however, got the next two WWU batters to retire, by strikeout and groundout, but the inning was kept alive, as Kemper was hit-by-pitch, which put the go ahead on run on first. Sitko was able to end the threat and the momentum, as he struckout the Owls final batter of the game and secured the one run win for the Lynx.
Calhoun picked up the win for LU-Belleville, going 4.2 innings, allowing no runs on three hits and struck out six. Offensively, the team totaled seven hits, led by Colclasure, going 2-for-4 with one run scored from the leadoff spot.
Keeney, Cavaness, Dylan Skinner, Trey Meier and Chance Berry added the other hits for the Lynx.
The two teams' will meet up again tomorrow afternoon for a doubleheader, which is set to begin at 12 p.m., with game two following after.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow afternoon for a full recap and score of this AMC showdown.
