JOPLIN, Mo. – The William Woods University baseball team defeated William Penn, 2-0, and defeated Grand View, 5-3, at the Joplin Tournament on Saturday.
 
WWU returns to action tomorrow, Sunday, February 18th when they play Doane College at 1 p.m. and Graceland University at 3:30 p.m.
 
WWU vs. William Penn
Game Flow
The first game of the outing for the Owls started out with a single from Nathan Ball, but Josh Nicol quickly put an end to that as Ball was caught stealing and the Owls retired the side.
 
The Owls top of the order came out in the bottom of the first with Glen DesBouillons hitting a single and Tyler Cunningham following with a double, putting the Owls in scoring position. Nolan Aherin came up to the box and hit a sacrifice fly, scoring DesBouillons, putting the Owls ahead 1-0. Tyler Bracht would also collect an RBI after hitting a double to score Cunningham extending WWU lead to 2-0.
 
The Owls and the Statesmen would go through five innings of three up, three down until the Statesmen threatened the Owls lead in the top of the sixth. Matt Rhodes reached on hit by pitch and Julian Villegas and Isaiah Almanza both singled to load the bases. Fabio Espinosa would come in to pinch hit but would hit into an Owls defense double play. The Owls came out unscathed and continued to lead, 2-0.
 
The Owls were unable to string anymore hits together but pulled off another double play in the top of the seventh to secure the win, 2-0.
 
By the Numbers
3 – WWU collected three hits in the contest; all in the first inning
2- The Owls scored two runs in the contest; both in the first
4 – Taran Oulton struck out four in the contest
2 – WWU had two doubles in the contest
1 – Nolan Aherin and Tyler Bracht had an RBI in the contest
2 – WWU drew two walks in the contest
7 – The Owls gave up seven hits to the Statesman
 
Starting Pitcher Lines
WWU – Taran Oulton, 7 IP, 7H, 0R (0ER), 0BBs, 4Ks
WPU –DJ Milam, 6 IP, 3H, 2R (2ER), 2BBs, 5Ks
 
WWU vs. Grand View
Game Flow
After a two and a half scoreless innings, the Vikings got the first run across the board in the bottom of the third. With runners on second and third, Arron Hohensee scored on a passed ball taking a 1-0 lead. Grand View loaded the bases later in the inning but could not get a run across.
 
In the top of the fourth, WWU had back to back hits putting two on. After the second out, Patrick Dillon drew a walk loading the bases. However, the Owls left the bases loaded and trailed 1-0.
 
The Owls took the lead in the top of the fifth inning, with two outs, the Owls had two runners on second and third. Tyler Cunningham and Nolan Aherin scored on a Tyler Bracht single putting the Owls ahead, 2-1.
 
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Vikings came back and tied the game at 2-2. With a runner on second, Jimmy Anderson scored on a Hunter Embray single.
 
The game did not stay tied long as the Owls scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning. With a runner on first and second, Bracht singled scoring one. Both game into score on a Josh Nicol single and the Owls taking 5-2 lead.
 
Grand View came into score one in the bottom of the seventh inning but that is all they would score and WWU came away with a 5-3 victory.
 
By the Numbers
5 – WWU scored five runs against the Vikings
8 – The Owls combined to strike out eight Vikings
4 – William Woods drew four walks
3 – Tyler Bracht led the Owls with 3 hits
 
Starting Pitcher Lines
WWU – Tristan Steffens, 2.1 IP, 5H, 1R (1ER), 1BBs, 1Ks
Grand View –Kyle Duncan, 5 IP, 6H, 2R (0ER), 3BBs, 4Ks