OTTAWA, Kan. – The William Woods University baseball team swept Ottawa University in a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon. The Owls took game one 11-6 and closed out the day with an 8-6 victory stretching its winning streak to six games.
 
Tyler Cunningham led the Owls on the day as he hit .625 over the doubleheader, hitting two home runs and driving in eight runs. WWU hit .328 for the doubleheader.
 
The Owls return to action on Friday, March 2nd when they host Central Baptist College in a doubleheader at Owl Field. First-pitch of the doubleheader is set for 1 p.m.
 
Game One
Game Flow
The Owls started right out the gate against the Braves in the first inning when Marquise Doherty started things off with a single and Tyler Cunningham came up and hit a two-run homerun putting the Owls head, 2-0.
 
The Braves answered back in the bottom of the first when Trevor McClanahan doubled, and Dalton Rankin hit a single, scoring McClanahan trimming the Owls lead down to one, 2-1.
 
The Braves scored again in the bottom of the second when Brock Huber smacked a double and McKinley Muarer went in to pinch run. Maurer later scored off a single from Chris Morrison, tying the game 2-2.
 
It was not until the top of the third when the Owls scored again. Trevor Garriott led off with a walk, and Brian Granton moved him over on an executed bunt single. Doherty joined them on the bases after a walk, loading the bases with Owls. Tyler Cunningham hit a double, which scored two and put the Owls head, 4-2. Nolan Aherin came up and grounded out which scored scored Doherty putting WWU ahead 5-2. Frankie Valle also added a hit of his own to score Cunningham, putting the Owls ahead by four, 6-2.
 
The bottom of the third brought the Braves another run, cutting the lead down to 6-3. Hecmart Nieves hit a home run for the Braves.
 
The Owls extended their lead in the top of the fourth when Drew May hit a single. He then stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball landed him at third base. Granton would join him on the bases after being hit by pitch and stole second to put the Owls in scoring position.
 
Marquise Doherty came up and hit a single. Scoring May and Granton growing the Owls lead to 8-3. Tyler Cunningham would follow with a his second two-run homerun of the day to bring the Owls to a 10-3 lead.
 
The game then went scoreless until the top of the seventh when the Owls added another run with the help from a single by Aherin and a double by Connor Poulson. Jordan Smith grounded out which scored Aherin, bringing the Owls to a 11-3 lead.
 
The bottom of the seventh would bring three runs for the Braves. Dalton Rankin collected an RBI single and Tyler Quintana scored two on a single, however, the Owls came away with a 11-6 victory in game one.
 
By the Numbers
6 – Tyler Cunningham led the Owls with 6 RBI in the contest
2 – Tyler Cunningham hit two homeruns in the contest
8 – Eight different Owls had a hit in the game
12 – WWU collected 12 hits in the contest
11 – WWU scored 11 runs against the Braves in game one
4 – William Woods stole four bases in the game
 
Starting Pitcher Lines
WWU – Tristian Steffens, 4 IP, 6H, 3R (3ER), 0BBs, 3Ks
Ottawa – Akoni Hamilton, 2 IP, 3H, 2R (2ER), 0BBs, 3Ks
 
Game Two
Game Flow
The second game between the Owls and the Braves started out much slower than the first game. The Owls would score first in the top of the fourth when Patrick Dillon and Doherty both reached on a walk. Tyler Cunningham came up and hit a single, scoring Dillon putting the Owls ahead 1-0.
 
Glen DesBouillons hit a sacrifice fly to score Doherty growing the Owls lead to 2-0. The Owls were able to string the hits together when Zach Smith came up and hit a double and Cunningham crossed the plate, putting the Owls ahead 3-0. Granton came in to pinch hit and later scored off a double from Poulson giving the Owls a 4-0 lead.
 
The Braves answered back in the bottom of the fourth when they had two doubles and scored two runs, 4-2.
 
In the top of the fifth, the Owls extended their lead after Dillon reached on a hit by pitch and Cunningham hit a double, scoring Dillon putting WWU ahead 5-2. After a hit by Smith, Cunningham scored, and the Owls found themselves with a lead of four, 6-2.
 
The Braves cut the lead in the bottom of the fifth when they scored three runs on three doubles, a single and an error by the Owls trimming the Owls lead down to one, 6-5. The bottom of the sixth brought about another run for the Braves tying the game at 6-6.
 
The game stayed tied until the top of the ninth when the Owls came up and led off when Aheirin led off with a walk. Dillon then came up and singled and put the Owls in scoring position. Doherty hit a sacrifice fly to score Aherin and Dillon scored later on a Braves error putting the Owls lead at two, 8-6.
 
Brice Mueller came out of the pen and closed the door on the Braves as he recorded three straight outs ending the game. Mueller picked up the save in the contest and WWU came away with a 8-6 victory.  
 
By the Numbers
8 – WWU collected eight hits in the contest
8 – William Woods scored eight runs in the contest
5 – The Owls had five players collect a hit in the game
2 – Tyler Cunningham drove in two runs in the contest
3 – WWU stole three bases in the contest
3 – The Owls hit three doubles in the second game of the doubleheader
 
Starting Pitcher Lines
WWU – Collin Kessler, 3.2 IP, 5H, 2R (1ER), 1BBs, 2Ks
Ottawa – Gatlin Watson, 2 IP, 0H, 0R (0ER), 0BBs, 1K