FULTON, Mo. – The William Woods University baseball team split with Hannibal-LaGrange University on day two of the three-game conference series. The Owls grabbed a shutout victory in game one, 1-0, but dropped game two, 7-3.

With Hannibal-LaGrange's field unplayable, the three-game road series was played at the Owls' home field. Although the Owls were playing on their home turf, they were the road team in all aspects. 
 
With the split, the Owls move to 10-20-1 on the season with a 3-14 conference mark.

Next up for the Owls is a three-game home series with Columbia College beginning on Friday, March 29, at 6 p.m.

Game One
HLG put two runners on base in the bottom of the first inning, but Taran Oulton struck out the next two batters to come out of the inning unharmed.

In the top of the fourth, Zach Smith led off with a single to right-center field, and he advanced to second on the pitcher's attempt to pick him off. Quincy Jones recorded his second hit of the day to bring home Z. Smith, giving the Owls a 1-0 lead.

WWU looked to add a second run in the top of the seventh as Brian Granton singled to right field to move Douglas Martin to third, but Martin was thrown out at home as he attempted to score on the play.

The Owls defense held HLG to three batters in the bottom of the seventh with two strikeouts to end the game with a 1-0 win.

The Owls grabbed six hits at the plate. Quincy Jones went 2-for-3 with one RBI, and Z. Smith went 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Oulton (2-5) pitched the complete game shutout. He allowed just two hits throughout the seven innings while striking out nine of the 25 batters faced.
 
Game Two
After three consecutive errors by the Owls, HLG scored two runs in the bottom of the second to take a 2-0 lead in game two.

In the bottom of the third, HLG added two more runs with a RBI single and a RBI double to take a 4-0 lead.

The Owls looked to score in the top of the fifth as a Tim Redford double moved Jones to third with one out. Brian Granton was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs, but a strikeout ended the inning leaving all runners stranded.

Z. Smith started the action in the top of the sixth with a triple to the right field fence. Russell Strilchuk followed with a single down the right field line to bring Z. Smith home for the first run of the game. A passed ball and wild pitch moved Strilchuk to third, but a fly out ended the inning with just one run scored.

In the top of the seventh, Redford led off with a single to left field. Owen pinch ran for Redford and moved to second on the pitcher's attempt to pick him off at first. Granton was walked, putting runners at first and second with Marquise Doherty up to bat. Doherty hit a two RBI double to score Brady Owen and Granton, bringing the score to 4-3.

HLG countered with three runs in the bottom of the inning to extend their lead to 7-3.

The Owls were unable to score in the next two innings, ending the game with a loss.

The Owls outhit HLG 8-6 in game two. Redford went 3-for-4 with a double. Z. Smith went 2-for-3 from the plate with one run scored.

Adam Grunden (1-2) started on the mound and was credited with the loss. He pitched 2.2 innings and struck out two.