FULTON, Mo. – The William Woods University softball team pulled out two wins over Stephens College Friday afternoon for their first conference sweep of the season. The Owls defeated the Stars 8-5 in game one. In game two, Stephens took the Owls into 10 innings before the Owls pulled out a 4-3 win.
The Owls move to 9-14 on the season with a 4-4 conference mark.
Next up for the Owls is a non-conference road doubleheader at Cottey College. Game one begins at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 24.
Game One
The Owls got on the board first with a two RBI double from
Emily Robinett to score
Anna Counts and
Emma Walker in the bottom of the first.
Stephens countered in the top of the second with five runs to take a three-run lead over the Owls. After the fourth run scored,
Brittany Roady came in to pitch for
Alexis Hassler.
The Owls slowly chipped away at the deficit. In the bottom of the second,
Lindy Wilson led off with a double to the left field fence. She moved to third on Count's sacrifice bunt and scored on a stolen base as the first base runner was caught stealing.
In the bottom of the third, the Owls took a one-run lead. With bases loaded and one out,
Chyann Hockett hit a two RBI single to center field to bring home Robinett and
Celeste Sermeno.
Madison Ausfahl scored the go-ahead run on
Lindy Wilson's at-bat, but a double play ended the inning with the Owls ahead 6-5.
The Owls added two more in the bottom of the fifth to take an 8-5 lead. With two outs and two Stephens errors,
Bri Devellano was able to score.
Lindy Wilson scored on Walker's RBI single.
Stephens looked to score in the top of the sixth, but the Owls defense left two runners stranded in scoring position. Neither team was able to find home plate again, ending the game with an 8-5 win.
The Owls recorded 11 hits. Wilson went 2-for-3 from the plate with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI. Walker went 2-for-2 with a run and an RBI.
Alli Massey and Robinett also recorded two hits in the game.
Roady (5-5) came in as relief and grabbed the win in the circle. She pitched 5.2 innings, struck out four and allowed just two hits.
Game Two
The Owls scored first in game two with a Walker RBI triple to right-center field in the bottom of the third to bring home Counts.
Both teams left runners stranded in the next few innings to leave the game at 1-0 heading into the seventh inning.
Stephens led off with a double in the top of the seventh, and back-to-back singles scored the tying run. A second runner attempted to score the go-ahead run on the play, but was thrown out at home plate to keep the game tied at 1-1.
The Owls were unable to get a runner on in the bottom of the seventh, sending the game into extra innings.
Stephens hit a two-run home run to take a 3-1 lead in the top of the eighth. With two runners in scoring position, the Owls' defense ended the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth, Stephens committed back-to-back errors to put two Owls' runners on with one out. After the second out, Robinett singled to right-center, bringing home both Depping and Walker to tie the game at 3-3. The Owls were unable to bring in another run, sending the game into the ninth inning,
The ninth inning was a quick three outs for both teams, and the international tiebreaker rule began in the 10
th inning.
The Owls' defense left the Stars' runner stranded as they quickly grabbed three outs.
In the bottom of the 10
th, Counts started at second. Depping bunted and moved Counts to third. Walker grounded out, moving Depping to second, but Counts stayed at third. Massey then came up to the plate and hit an RBI ground out to second but Counts was able to score on the play to end the game with a 4-3 win.
The Owls recorded seven hits in the 9.2 innings played. Depping went 2-for-3 from the plate with a run scored.
Madison Ausfahl (4-7) pitched the complete game win. She tossed 10.0 innings, struck out 10 and allowed three earned runs.
