FULTON, Mo. – The William Woods University Baseball team swept visiting Northwestern College on Friday afternoon. The Owls took game one, 9-2, before rallying for the victory in the second game of the day, 6-2.
 
Game One
Game Flow
With one out in the bottom of the first, Alex St. Pierre singled to right field. Jensen Smith followed with a triple to deep right center scoring St. Pierre and putting the Owls ahead 1-0. Smith came around to score when Jordan Dey reached base on a throwing error. After one inning of play the Owls lead 2-0.
 
Owls starter John Cavness kept the Red Raiders bats quiet for the majority of the contest as he only allowed one hit through the first four innings of play. The Owls continued to add to their lead in bottom of the second inning, as Larry Price laid down a sacrifice squeeze bunt scoring Drew May. However, that would be the only run the Owls and the Owls grew their lead to 3-0.
 
The game remained 3-0 until the bottom of the fourth inning, when Tanner Wetrich doubled to left field socring Drew May and growing the Owls lead to 4-0. Northwestern got to Cavness in the top of the fifth inning, as they collected two hits and took advantage of a WWU error. The Red Raiders trimmed the lead in half, 4-2.
 
After seeing their lead cut in half, the Owls responded in the bottom of the fifth inning, as they scored three runs in the frame. Patrick Dillion came up with the big hit as the singled to shallow center scoring two and putting WWU ahead 6-2. William Woods added one more of a Grant Garrett single and after five innings of play, WWU lead 7-2.
 
After the fifth inning Cavness settled down and did not allow a Red Raider to reach base for the remainder of the contest. William Woods added two more runs in the game and defeated Northwestern 9-2.
 
By The Numbers
7 – Owls Starter John Cavness struck out seven in game one
3 – Starter John Cavness only allowed with the Red Raiders to collect three hits
11 – WWU collected 11 hits in the first game of the doubleheader
9 – The Owls put up nine runs in game one
3 – Garrett Grant was 3-for-3 in the first game
3 – The start was Cavness' third complete game of the season
4 – The Owls had four hitters collect multi-hit games in game one
 
Starting Pitcher Lines
WWU- John Cavnes, 7 IP, 3H, 2R (1ER), 1BB, 7K's
Northwestern – Fernando Gutierrez, 4 IP, 7H, 6R (5ER), 1BB, 1K
 
Game Two
Game Flow
The Owls scored early in the second game of the doubleheader as they Larry Price scored on a ground out putting William Woods ahead, 1-0. However, the Red Raiders responded quickly in the contest. Northwestern got to WWU starter Ryan Phillips for two runs in the top of the second inning. After a leadoff single, Michael Callahan doubled to left center scoring one. Callahan came to score two batters later putting the Owls down 2-1.
 
After the second inning, Phillips only allowed two more hits for his outing against the Red Raiders and the Owls slowly started coming back. The Owls tied the game in the bottom of the third on a Dey single to right field, which scored Tanner Wetrich.
 
The Owls took the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. With two outs and Price on third base, Dey doubled down the left field line scoring one. Dey came around to score on a Nolan Aherin single and WWU led 4-2.
 
After Northwestern went down in order in the top of the sixth inning, William Woods added to their lead in the bottom half. WWU scored two runs extending their lead to 6-2 going to the top of the seventh inning. After Phillips hit the first batter putting one on, Bret Harris came in and shut the door on the Red Raiders.
 
William Woods defeated Northwestern, 6-2, in game two earning the sweep.
 
By the Numbers
6 – The total number of strikeouts Ryan Phillips and Bret Harris combined for in game two
6 – The number of hits the Owls collected in game two
6 – The Owls scored six runs in the contest
2 – Jordan Dey collected two hits and two RBIs in the second game
4 – The Owls had four players pick up a hit in game two
 
Starting Pitcher Lines
WWU – Ryan Phillips, 6 IP, 5H, 2R (2ER), 1BB, 5K's
Northwestern – Raphael DeHoyos, 5 IP, 5H, 4R (4ER), 5BB's, 7K's
 
Upcoming Games
The Owls return to action on Sunday, February 28th when they host Ashford University in a doubleheader at Owl Field. First pitch is set for 12 p.m.