BELLEVUE, Neb. – The No. 24 ranked William Woods University baseball team avoided elimination and kept its 2015 NAIA National journey alive Wednesday morning, as the Owls defeated Madonna (Mich.) 8-6 in its second game of the opening round.
 
The Owls (39-13) offense had an outburst in the seventh inning, plating five runs to capture the come-from-behind win and advance to its next game in the Bellevue Bracket of the 2015 National Championships opening round.
 
With the win this morning, WWU is not set to play at 6:00 p.m. tonight against No. five seeded Mayville State, who defeated Madonna (Mich.) 6-1 in its first game of opening round before falling to the No. 1 seed Tabor college Tuesday night 8-0. The winner of tonight' match-up will advance to Thursday and face the loser between No. 2 seed Bellevue University and Top seed Tabor College.
 
It was Madonna who struck first in the elimination game, as the Crusaders lead off hitter Shane Dokey doubled down the left-field line and moved up to third base after a pass ball, quickly putting MU in scoring position. Next batter, Ryan Lambrecht would hit a ground ball to the short stop, scoring Dokey and giving Madonna the early 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
 
The Owls responded by getting the run back in the bottom half of their inning, after Larry Price reached on a walk  and advanced  to second on Nick Spagnola's ground out. The Owls clean up hitter, Dustin Kremer pick up right where he left of yesterday driving the tying run with a single up the middle, making it a new ball game 1-1.
 
The Crusaders tallied two more runs to its lead, one in the second inning and the other in the top of the third. MU was able to plate its run in the third off of four hits, which ended the Owls starting pitcher, Adam Brush's day, as Ryan Yuengel came in to relief, trying to stop the bleeding for the Owls, after falling 3-1.
 
WWU got within one of MU in its next at bat, as Spagnola and Cody Stewart led off the fourth inning with back-to-back singles, then with a Kremer fielder's choice, Stewart would cross home plate after an error from the Crusaders, making the score 3-2.
 
Despite the momentum the Owls collected, Madonna answered by plating two more runs on three hits, making the score 5-2 after the completion of four innings in the match-up.
 
The Crusaders added another run from an RBI single off the bat of Levi Larmour in the top of the seventh, extending its lead to 6-2.
 
The Owls, however, busted open the bats in the seventh inning, plating five runs on four hits to take its first lead of the day, 7-6 over MU. Larry Price started the outburst with a lead off single up the middle, followed by a double to deep center from Spagnola, putting runners on third and second for WWU. Kremer would collect his second RBI of the game, driving in Price and moving Spagnola up to third, as Austin Clapp got into the action with an RBI double, scoring Spagnola and making the score 6-4. Then later in the inning, after Stephen Kohler drew a walk, Konrad Kemper crushed a ball over the left field fence for a three run home run, giving the Owls the 7-6 lead.
 
WWU wasn't done yet, Spagnola chipped in an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning after a solo shot over the right-center field fence, pushing the Owls advantage up to 8-6 with just three outs from advancing to the next game in opening round.
 
The Owls offense gave Dylan Hastings the lead, as the senior got into a jam in the top of the ninth but was able to hold off the Crusaders and strand runners at third and first, to secure the 8-6 victory, elimination Madonna University and moving on to the next game later tonight.
 
WWU totaled 11 hits as a team, as Kemper went a perfect 3-for-3 from the plate, as one of those hits was his third home run of the season, while plating three RBI on the day. Spagnola, was another Owl to collect three hits in the match-up (3-for-5), as the senior scored one run and recorded an RBI. Price, Stewart, Kremer, Clapp,  and Kohler each chipped in with a hit, while Kremer also added three RBI in the victory.
 
On the mound, Yuengel got the win, as the senior went 2.1 innings, gave up three hits and only allowed two runs.
 
Mayville State, who is set to face the Owls at 6:00 p.m. tonight are currently 40-21 on the season and is led offensively by John Pistulka, who is hitting .410 from the plate, amassing a team-high 71 hits, 21 doubles and 39 RBI.
 
Fans check back on wwuowls.com later tonight for a recap and score of the showdown between the Owls and Comets from Bellevue, Nebraska. 

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