CONWAY, Ark. – Behind the right arm of senior Ryan Phillips, the William Woods University baseball team won the rubber match of the three-game set against Central Baptist College on Saturday afternoon. Phillips pitched a complete game shutout and the Owls defeated the Mustangs, 1-0.
 
Pitching his fourth complete game of the season and first shutout, Phillips only allowed three hits to the Mustangs, who hit five homeruns in yesterday's doubleheader, while striking out 11 in the contest. The 11 strikeouts for Phillips is his fourth game this season with 10 or more strikeouts.
 
WWU returns to action on Wednesday, March 22nd they host Avila University in a non-conference contest. First-pitch is set for 5 p.m. at Owl Field.
 
Game Flow
In the rubber game of the three-game set, the Mustangs and Owls offenses struggled to get going. After combining to hit nine home runs in yesterday's doubleheader, pitching dominated the contest today as both teams pitching staff only allowed six hits in the contest.
 
Ryan Phillips was locked in for the Owls as he only allowed the Mustangs to reach base three times in the first five innings of the contest. Each time only one runner reached in the frame and they were stranded on base.
 
The Owls finally got a run across the plate in the top of the fifth inning. Jansen Smith led the inning off by drawing a walk. He advanced to second on a wild pitch. After the next two Owls were retired, Alex St. Pierre singled through the left side and on the play, Smith came around to score putting WWU ahead, 1-0. William Woods continued to threaten as St. Pierre stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Nolan Aherin drew a walk putting runners on the corners. However, the inning came to an end when Phillips flew out to left field.
 
Phillips ran into a little trouble in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Mustangs offense. With a runner on second base and one out, Santez Richardson drew a walk. After a strike out, Phillips intentional walked Jalin Lawson to load the bases. Last season, Lawson led the NAIA in home runs. After the walk, Phillips struck out Austin Kuchinski ending the inning.
 
After the sixth inning, the Mustangs could not get anything going against Phillips as he sat Central Baptist down 1-2-3 in the seventh, eighth and ninth inning. During those innings, Phillips struck out three of his 11 batters.
 
Phillips would pick up the win for the Owls, his fifth win of the season with the 1-0 shutout of Central Baptist.
 
By the Numbers
11 – Ryan Phillips struck out 11 in the contest
1 – The Owls scored one run to win the contest
3 – WWU had three hits in the contest
2 – Alex St. Pierre led the Owls with two hits
9 – WWU struck out nine times in the contest against Mustangs Pitching
2 – William Woods had two doubles in the contest
 
Starting Pitcher Lines
WWU – Ryan Phillips, 9.0 IP, 3H, 0R (0ER), 2BBs, 11Ks
CBC – Brian Moreno, 4.2 IP, 2H, 1R (1ER), 3BBs, 5Ks