ST. LOUIS, Mo. – In an offensive slugfest, the William Woods University baseball team earned a split with Harris-Stowe State University on Saturday afternoon. The Owls dropped game one, 7-6, before rebounded to win game two, 10-8.
 
With the split the Owls are 20-20 on the season and 12-8 in the American Midwest Conference. The Owls are currently sitting in fourth place in the AMC.
 
The Owls and Hornets return to action on Sunday, April 9th to close out the three-game set in St. Louis. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
 
Game One
Game Flow
William Woods offense came to life early in game one as the Owls score four runs in the top of the first inning. With two runners on, Ryan Phillips singled scoring the first Owls run of the day. After a double-play, Glen DesBouillons hit a two-run home run to center field extending the Owls lead to 3-0. WWU added one more in the inning and the Owls led 4-0.
 
Owls starter Ryan Furtney looked to be making quick work of the Hornets in the first inning as he got the first two batters to fly out. After he allowed a single he walked the next batter putting two on for Harris-Stowe. Zach Jones came up and hit a three-run home run cutting the Owls lead down to one, 4-3.
 
WWU grew its lead back to three runs in the top of the second inning. Tyler Bracht led off with a bunt single. With one out and Bracht on first, Nolan Aherin hit a homerun to right center putting the Owls ahead 6-0.
 
Harris-Stowe continued to chip away at the Owls lead as Jordan Weaks led off the inning with a home run to center field. That would be all Harris-Stowe would get in the inning.
 
After the Owls offense scored six runs in the first two innings of the contest, the struggled to keep the hits coming. From the third inning on, the Hornets limited the Owls to just one hit for the remainder of the contest and only put five base runners on over the last five innings of the contest.
 
Harris-Stowe added one run in the bottom of the third inning. Leobardo Saldivar singled to right, which scored one putting the Owls lead down to 6-4. Harris-Stowe took its first lead of the contest in the bottom of the fifth inning when Saldivar came up a double, scoring one, tying the game at 6-6. HSSU took the lead after a Daylan Pajimola double scored one, and the Hornets led, 7-6.
 
William Woods put a runner on in each of the sixth and seventh inning but could not get anything going and the Owls would drop game one, 7-6.
 
By the Numbers
11 – WWU collected 11 hits in the first game of the doubleheader
6 – The Owls scored six runs in the first and second innings
5 – William Woods left five runners on base
8 – WWU had eight different players collect a hit
2 – Nolan Aherin and Glen DesBouillons drove in two runs each
 
Starting Pitcher Lines
WWU – Ryan Furtney, 2.1 IP, 4H, 5R (5ER), 3BBs, 4Ks
HSSU – Steven Kemp, 7 IP, 11H, 6R (5ER), 2BBs, 5Ks
 
Game Two
Game Flow
Harris-Stowe got to scoring early in the second game of the doubleheader as they scored two runs on three hits in the bottom of the first inning. Tony Montano singled home the first two runs of the contest putting the Hornets ahead, 2-0. HSSU grew its lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the second inning when Mingeli hit a home run to left field.
 
William Woods offense came to life in the top of the third inning as they broke onto the scoreboard. Neal Aherin doubled and Anthony Davison singled putting runners on the corners with one out. These were the first two hits for the Owls in the second game. Alex St. Pierre came up and hit a sacrifice fly scoring one. After another double, and runners on second and third, Ryan Phillips second home the second run for the Owls.
 
The Owls took the lead in the top of the fourth inning. After back to back errors, the Owls scored one run tying the game at 3-3. WWU took the lead on Neal Aherins second double of the game that drove home one.
 
William Woods lead did not last long as the Hornets responded in the bottom of the fourth inning as they scored four runs on four hits. After four innings of play, Harris-Stowe led 7-4.
 
The game remained 7-4 in favor of the Hornets until the top of the sixth inning. In the sixth, the Owls tied the game at 7-7 after scoring three runs on a Konrad Kemper home run to left center. WWU took the lead 8-7 in the top of the seventh inning. Nolan Aherin came into score on a Tyler Cunningham fielder's choice.
 
WWU tacked on two more runs in the eighth inning of the contest taking a 10-7 lead over the Hornets. William Woods scored one run on a Hornets throwing error and another run on a Phillips single to right-center.
 
Harris-Stowe got one run back in the bottom of the eighth inning on a Roger Amador RBI single. Going to the ninth inning the Owls lead 10-8.
 
The Owls could not get anything going on the offensive end in the ninth inning and took a two-run lead into the bottom of the ninth. The Owls made the call to the bullpen for Dalton Christian. Christian came in and struck out the first two batters he faced and got the last batter to fly out to end the game. WWU came away with a 10-8 victory.
 
By the Numbers
1 – Konrad Kemper hit one home run in the contest
10 – WWU scored 10 runs in the second game of the doubleheader
12 – William Woods had 12 hits in the contest
3 – Konrad Kemper drove in three runs in the victory
2 – Ryan Phillips collected two RBIs in the win for the Owls
4 – WWU had four players with two or more hits
10 – The Owls pitching staff combined for 10 strikeouts in the contest
 
Starting Pitcher Lines
WWU – Chase Feucht, 6 IP, 12H, 7R (6ER), 0BBs, 6Ks
HSSU – Stephen Wells, 6 IP, 7H, 7R (2ER), 1BB, 6Ks