HENERSON, Tenn. – The William Woods University baseball team's run through the American Midwest Conference (AMC) Baseball Championship came to an end on Saturday afternoon when the Owls were defeated 20-11 by top seed Missouri Baptist University.
 
Ryan Phillips and Jordan Dey fled the Owls on the day as Phillips collected four hits to lead the Owls and Dey drove home four runs to lead the team.
 
The Owls pitching staff ran into issues against Missouri Baptist (MBU) as the Owls issued 10 walks and gave up 19 hits on the day.
 
Game Flow
William Woods jumped on MBU starter Robert Evans in the top of the first inning. After back-to-back walks to the first two hitters for the Owls, Ryan Phillips collected his first hit of the game with single too short to load the bases. Jordan Dey followed by droving home two and putting the Owls ahead 2-0. With two runners on, WWU grounded into a double play and a ground out to end the threat.
 
MBU would not trail for long as the Spartans jumped on Jesse Remington in the bottom of the first inning. Angel Cruz tied the game for Missouri Baptist with a two run single to right center. MBU took the lead on an Austin Rieman double, which scored one. The Spartans added one more in the frame and led 4-2 after the first.
 
The Owls answered back in the second when they scored four runs on four hits while taking advantage of three Missouri Baptist errors. With runners on the corners, Tanner Wetrich hit a sacrifice fly scoring one. Later in the inning Neal Aherin drove home the second run of the inning for the Owls tying the game at 4-4. The Owls added two more in the inning when Dey reached on an error scoring one and the second run came around to score on a wild throw.
 
Remington settled down in the second inning as he retired the first two hitters of the inning. After a walk and a hit, the Spartans had two runners on. Remington retired Angel Cruz to end the inning.
 
The Spartans bats continued to stay hot in the contest as they collected five hits in the third inning, scoring seven runs in the inning taking the lead over the Owls; which the Spartans would hold for the remainder of the contest.
 
The Owls scored one run in the fourth inning when Dey singled home Neal Aherin putting the Owls down 11-7. After scoring the one run in the fourth inning, the Owls did not score again until the top of the seventh inning, when Grant Garrett hit a sacrifice fly.
 
However, while the Owls were going scoreless at the plate, Missouri Baptist bats did not cool off as they scored four runs in the fifth inning and three more in the sixth inning of the contest.
 
After Garrett's sacrifice fly, the Spartans again had an answer as they scored two more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. After seven innings were complete, the Owls trailed 20-8.
 
The game remained 20-8 until the ninth inning. Ryan Phillips and Jordan Dey led off with back-to-back singles. After a double play, the Owls had a runner on base with two outs, Alex St. Pierre came to the plate and singled home Phillips. Jansen Smith followed with a two run homerun to right field putting the Owls down 20-11. That would be as close as the Owls would get as they were eliminated from the AMC Baseball Championship by Missouri Baptist, 20-11.
 
By the Numbers
14 – WWU collected 14 hits in the loss to MBU
11 – The Owls scored 11 runs in contest
10 – William Woods walked ten Spartans in the contest
4 – Ryan Phillips led the Owls with four hits
4 – Jordan Dey drove in four runs
5 – The Owls had five players with a multi-hit game
 
Starting Pitcher Lines
WWU – Jesse Remington, 2.1 IP, 10H, 9R (9ER), 1BB's, 0K's
MBU – Robert Evans, 9 IP, 14H, 11R (9ER), 3BB's, 3K's