FULTON, Mo. — After playing their first nine games on the road, the William Woods University softball team will get to play in front of the home crowd on Thursday afternoon, as the Owls host Missouri Valley College in a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
 
The Owls (4-5) are coming off a 2-2 weekend in Oklahoma, where WWU was swept on Saturday by Oklahoma Wesleyan but rebounded on Sunday sweeping Bacone College. The Owls dropped two close games on Saturday, 1-0 and 4-1, to the Eagles before bouncing back on Sunday for an 8-7 victory in game one and a 10-2 victory in game two.
 
During the four game trip, the Owls batted .331 on the trip with five doubles and two home runs. They scored 18 runs, including tying a season high 10 runs on Sunday in game two against Bacone. Leading the offense this weekend was Beth Begemann who hit .500 on the trip (5-for-10) and she drove in three runs, including hitting a two-run homerun on Sunday.
 
On the rubber, Sierra Jacques and Allison Waskow picked up wins for the Owls. Jacques kept the batters she faced off balanced on Sunday at Bacone as she only allowed Bacone to hit .211 on the day. The Owls struck out 12 batters on the weekend.
 
On the season, William Woods holds a team batting average of .310, with 38 runs scored, 14 doubles, one triples, three home runs and 36 RBIs.
 
Leading the way has been Beth Begemann who is hitting .429 (9-for-21) with four runs scored, five doubles, one home run, six RBIs and a slugging percentage of .810. Following Begemann is Amanda Bouchey with a .423 (11-for-26) batting average, two home Runs, and seven RBIs.
 
Inside the circle, Allison Waskow leads the team with an earned run average (ERA) 0.76 in her five games she has appeared in. Waskow has pitched a team-high 27.2 innings this year while picking up two wins. Sierra Jacques follows with an ERA of 2.92 and a 1-1 record on the season. Sophomore Bre Logan has appeared in four games compiling an ERA of 5.49 in 21.2 innings pitched.
 
As a team, the Owls have the third best ERA in the American Midwest Conference with 2.85. WWU is only allowing teams to hit .215 on the season with nine extra base hits. The Owls pitching staff has struck out 28 batters on the season.
 
Thursday's contest will be the first contest of the season for the Vikings of Missouri Valley. Last season the Vikings finished the season 13-19 overall and 6-12 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference.