COLUMBIA, Mo. – The William Woods University softball team advances to the 2019 American Midwest Conference Championship series with Friday's 8-2 pool win over Williams Baptist University. The Owls will face Columbia College in the Championship series for the best two of three games. Since Columbia won the regular season and already received one of the conference's two automatic bids to the NAIA National Championship, the Owls will receive the second, win or lose.
The Owls and Columbia will play two games on Saturday, May 4, beginning at 11 a.m. If the teams split, the third and final game will be played on Sunday, May 5.
The Owls remain undefeated in the 2019 Tournament with an opening round win over No. 25 Central Baptist and two wins over Williams Baptist.
Game Flow
In the top of the third,
Dacrie Depping reached on an error. She moved to second on Anna Count's bunt, and
Ari Arnold's sacrifice bunt moved them both into scoring position.
Emma Walker then singled to shallow right field, scoring both Depping and Counts. The Owls were unable to score another, heading into the bottom of the third with a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the third, WBU scored on a sacrifice fly to right field to cut the game to 2-1.
Celeste Sermeno led off the top of the fourth with a single.
Lindy Wilson followed with a single, and after a strikeout, Depping moved each into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. A walk loaded the bases with two outs, and Sermeno scored on a passed ball to give the Owls a 3-1 lead. A ground out ended the inning with two runners stranded in scoring position.
In the bottom of the sixth, WBU took advantage of Owls' errors and added their second run to the board, bringing the game back to a one-run game, 3-2.
The Owls responded in the top of the seventh, putting up five runs to secure the game. With two on, Walker hit a single to left field to score Counts. On the throw home, Arnold scored and Walker moved to third.
Alli Massey followed with a sacrifice fly to score Walker. Next,
Emily Robinett hit a double to the left field fence. Sermeno was walked, and a wild pitch moved both runners up a base. Wilson then doubled to center field, scoring Robinett and Sermeno for the Owls' seventh and eighth runs. After a pitching change, WBU recorded the last two outs needed to end the half inning.
The Owls' defense needed just three outs to end the game and automatically clinch the AMC's second automatic bid to the 2019 NAIA Championship. After a ground out, WBU put two singles in play, but on the next at-bat, the Owls forced the runner out at third. A fly out to center field ended the game with an 8-2 Owls win.
Walker went 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored. Wilson went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI, and Counts went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
Brittany Roady (14-7) pitched the complete game win. She faced 32 batters and allowed just one earned run while walking one.
