JOPLIN, Mo. – The William Woods University baseball team opened the AMC Tournament with a 5-0 victory over the fourth seed Columbia College on Wednesday afternoon. The Owls Josh Nicol drove in two runs in the victory.
 
With the win the Owls improve to 30-22 on the season. Taran Oulton pitched seven and a third innings to earn the win in the contest.
 
The Owls return to action on Thursday, May 3rd when they face top seed Lyon College. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.
 
Game Flow
The Owls and Cougars Taran Oulton and Christian Wall came out dealing in the first three innings. In the top of the third, Wall struck out the side and Oulton came back in the bottom of the first inning and shut down the Cougars with two strike outs and a ground out.
 
The game remained scoreless until the top of the fourth inning. With one out, Nolan Aherin walked to get the Owls started. Tyler Cunningham followed with a walk putting two runners on. After a fielder's choice, the Owls had runners on the corners with two outs. Josh Nicol drove in two with a double to left center putting the Owls ahead 2-0.
 
Oulton came out dealing again in the bottom of the fourth inning. As he retired the batters in order heading keeping the Owls ahead 2-0.
 
WWU extended the lead to 3-0 in the top of the fourth. With one out, Tyler Bracht reached on a walk and advanced to third on a single by Frankie Valle. Brian Granton bunted for a hit and scoring Bracht growing the Owls lead to 3-0.
 
The Owls continued to get strong pitching and defense. In the fifth inning, Oulton got back-to-back ground outs to start the inning. After a walk, Oulton struck out Andrew Warner ending the inning.
 
William Woods lead went to 4-0 in the top of the sixth. With one out, Marquise Doherty took the 1-1 pitch of his at-bat over the left field fence for a solo home run growing the lead to 4-0.
 
WWU continued to keep the bats quiet for the Cougars as they only had one hit in the seventh and eighth innings. WWU grew the lead to 5-0 in the top of the eighth as Zach Smith singled home Nolan Aherin.
 
WWU needed three outs for the bottom of the ninth. Alex Del Rio doubled to start the inning and Josh Miller followed with a single putting runners on first and second. Jeremy Hidalgo picked off Josh Miller for the first out. He than got Justin Randle to strike out and Reed Sprinkle to fly out ending the game. WWU defeated the Cougars, 5-0.
 
By the Numbers
0 – The Owls shut out the Cougars
9 – The Owls collected nine hits in the contest
10 – The pitching staff for WWU combined for 10 strikeouts
1 – Marquise Doherty hit one home run
4 – Four Owls had at least two hits in the game
2 – Josh Nicol drove in two runs
2 – WWU scored two runs in the fourth inning
 
Starting Pitcher Lines
WWU – Taran Oulton, 7.1 IP, 4H, 0R (0ER), 3BBs, 9Ks
CC – Christian Wall, 4.1 IP, 4H, 3R (3ER), 3BBs, 4Ks