PARKVILLE, Mo. – The William Woods University baseball team exploded for 15 runs on 20 hits in the first game of the three-game set against the Park University Pirates. The Owls came away with a 15-7 victory over the Pirates to open the AMC Game of the Week series.
 
The Owls offense collected a season-high 20 hits in the contest, with 12 hits coming from one through five in the batting order. Alex St. Pierre and Glen DesBouillons led the Owls with three hits apiece in the game. Senior Ryan Phillips collected a team-high four RBIs in the contest.
 
The Owls and Pirates return to action in the AMC Games of the Week, on Sunday, March 26th. First pitch of the doubleheader is set for 12 p.m.
 
Game Flow
The Owls offense got things going in the top of the first inning with two outs. Ryan Phillips collected his first hit of the day on a single to right field and teammate Tyler Cunningham drove him in with a two-run home run to left field putting the Owls head, 2-0
 
WWU added to its lead in the top of the third inning. Alex St. Pierre added to the Owls lead when he took the first pitch of his at-bat out to left field for a home run growing the Owls lead to 3-0. With two outs and Phillips on first, he advanced to second on a wild pitch and came to score when on an RBI single by DesBouillons growing the lead to 4-0.
 
After pitching scoreless innings in the first and second, Owls Starter Chase Feucht, ran into trouble in the third inning. Feucht gave up three straight hits and the Owls lead was down to 4-1. They added two more in the inning after three Innings, WWU led 4-3.
 
William Woods offense continued to click in the fourth inning and with two outs and a runner on first, St. Pierre singled up the middle and Nolan Aherin drew a walk to load the bases. Phillips drove in all three when he doubled down the left field line putting the Owls ahead 7-3. Phillips came into score on a DesBouillons single up the middle extending the Owls lead to 8-3.
 
The Pirates got to Feucht again in the fourth inning as they scored two more runs in the frame. The first came on an RBI fielder's choice and the second came when John Lozano Jr. tripled to center field. After four innings, WWU led 8-5.
 
The Owls offense continued to add runs in the contest as they stretched the lead to 12-5 in the top of the fifth inning. In the inning, St. Pierre recorded an RBI groundout and Nolan Aherin singled home one. Phillips picked up his fourth RBI of the contest on a sacrifice fly and Tyler Cunningham followed with an RBI single extending the Owls lead.
 
After allowing five runs in the past two innings, Feucht settled down and set the Pirates down 1-2-3 in the fifth and in order again in the sixth inning. WWU grew its lead to 13-5 on an RBI single by Trevor Garriott in the top of the sixth.
 
Bret Harris relieved Feucht in the bottom of the seventh inning and the Pirates offense got to Harris. After back-to-back singles the Pirates had two runners on base. Park scored a run on an RBI groundout cutting the Owls lead down to 13-6.
 
William Woods added to its lead in the top of the eighth inning. After a walk to DesBouillons, Josh Nicol doubled to right center scoring DesBouillons from first base. Garriott collected his second RBI single of the contest later in the inning and WWU led 15-6 after seven and a half innings.
 
The Pirates could not get anything going in the eighth inning against the Owls reliever, Dalton Christian. He recorded a pop out, ground out and strike out in the frame. Christian allowed a leadoff double in the bottom of the ninth before recording back-to-back strikeouts. After an Owls error allowed a Pirates run to score Christian got the last hitter to ground out to third to end the game and the Owls won game one of the series, 15-7.
 
By the Numbers
15 – WWU scored 15 runs in the contest against Park
20 – The Owls had 20 hits as a team against the Pirates
8 – With the win the Owls now have eight wins in AMC play
3 – Alex St Pierre and Glen DesBouillons led the Owls with three hits each
4 – Ryan Phillips collected four RBIs in the contest
9 – WWU's pitching staff struck out nine in the contest
2 – William Woods hit two home runs in the contest
 
Starting Pitcher Lines
WWU – Chase Feucht, 6 IP, 11H, 5R (5ER), 3BBs, 5Ks
Park – Derek Watkins, 3.2 IP, 9H, 8R (8ER), 4BBs, 5Ks