FULTON, Mo. – The William Woods University Baseball team swept the Lindenwood University-Belleville Lynx on Senior Day at Owl Field on Saturday afternoon. The Owls defeated the Lynx, 1-0, in game one, and claimed game two, 5-1.
 
Ryan Phillips led the Owls as he went 3-for-6 on the day at the doubleheader as he had two extra base hits. On the mound, Phillips picked up his second complete of the season in game two as he struck out 15 batters.
 
With the wins, the Owls improve to 22-16 on the season and 9-9 in American Midwest Conference action. The Owls have won four straight games.
 
William Woods returns to action on Wednesday, April 13th when they host Avila University in non-conference action at Owl Field. First-pitch is set for 5 p.m.
 
Game One
Game Flow
In a pitcher's duals, the Owls struck first as they broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the third. With two outs in the inning, Ryan Phillips doubled down the left field line. Jordan Dey followed with a single through the hole at shortstop, scoring Phillips from second taking a 1-0 lead.
 
Owls starter, Jacob Guilianelli continued to shut down the Lynx offense in the contest, as he only allowed two hits in the contest. In the fourth inning, LU-B got its second hit off Guilianelli with two outs in the fourth. However, they would only get the one hit in the inning.
 
The Lynx got its second hit of the contest off Guilianelli in the top of the fifth. Jordan Evans singled up the middle. After a sacrifice bunt advanced the runner second base. That would be as far as he would get as Guilinelli retired the next two hitters.
 
After the Owls scored the one run in the contest, William Woods did not threaten to score again in the game. The Owls pitching staff picked up the slack as Guilinelli only allowed two hits and the relievers did not allow a runner on base runner for the Lynx and the Owls came away with a 1-0 win.
 
By the Numbers
1 – The Owls scored one in the contest to win the game
2 – WWU drew two walks
8 – William Woods struck out eight batters in the game
2 – The Owls only allowed two hits in the game
4 – WWU collected four hits led by Ryan Phillips, who had two hits
1 – Jordan Dey collected the only RBI in the game
 
Starting Pitcher Lines
WWU – Jacob Guilianelli, 5 IP, 2H, 0R (0ER), 1BB, 4K's
LU-B – Michael Sabatino, 6 IP, 4H, 1R (1ER), 2BB's, 3K's
 
Game Two
Game Flow
The Owls broke the scoreless tie in the third inning. Larry Price led off with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Tanner Wetrich followed with a single to right center scoring Price putting the Owls ahead, 1-0. Alex St. Pierre singled to shallow center moving Wetrich to third. Wetrich scored on a Nolan Aherin safety squeeze putting the Owls ahead, 2-0.
 
William Woods grew its lead to 4-0 in the fourth inning. After a Patrick Dillion walk, Jansen Smith took the 2-1 pitch over the left field fence for his first home run of the season.
 
That would be enough for the for the Owls starter, Ryan Phillips. After giving up a leadoff single to center, Phillips did not allow another hit to the Lynx until the top of the fifth inning. Phillips ran into a little trouble in the fifth inning. After striking out the first hitter of the inning, Phillips gave up back-to-back hits putting two runners on base. Jesus Alvarez collected the lone RBI for the Lynx as they scored one on a groundout.
 
After the Lynx scored both offense went quiet until the eighth inning. Nolan Aherin tripled to right center to lead off the inning. Aherin came in to score on a wild pitch putting the Owls ahead 5-1.
 
Phillips continued to dominate in the top of the ninth inning. Phillips retried the Lynx in order in the nine earning for the win. Phillips pitched his second complete game of the season as he earned his fifth win. He struck out a season-high 15 batters in the game.
 
By The Numbers
15 – Ryan Phillips struck out 15 batters in game two
5 – The Owls scored five runs in game two
8 – WWU collected eight hits in game two
7 – William Woods had seven players collect a hit in game two
2 – Jansen Smith drove in two runs in the game
0 – The Owls did not walk a Lynx in game two
 
Starting Pitcher Lines
WWU – Ryan Phillips, 9 IP, 5H, 1R (1ER), 0BB, 15K's
LU-B – Jason Roberts, 8 IP, 8H, 5R (5ER), 2BB's, 3K's