Box Score FULTON, Mo. - With temperatures well above normal and a stout breeze blowing out to center, William Woods (9-6) picked up a win over Missouri Valley (5-3) with a scoreline more suited to October on the football field than February on the baseball diamond.
Jack Niggemeier,
Gavin Allen and
Kamron Morriss each blasted a home run for the home team as Woods hung a 35-15 win on the scoreboard.
Matt Hanson tied the Owls' single-season record collecting his 18th HBP of the season, with Woods also tying its own NAIA record with eight plunks as a team.
Niggemeier got the fireworks started immediately for Woods, leading off the bottom of the first with a 371-foot bomb to left. The Owls tacked on four more runs in the inning and took a 5-0 lead to the top of the second.
Despite being held scoreless in the top of the first, the Vikings tried to show that they were up to the challenge, mustering a four-run response in the second.
As Niggemeier returned to the plate to lead off the second inning, Woods put the game out of reach quickly, going completely through the batting order twice and scoring 15 runs. Even though the offensive output was quite gaudy, the bulk of WWU's scoring came through discipline at the plate. Woods earned five walks (three with bases loaded) and drew three HBPs (two with bases loaded) in the inning.
Matt Hanson took two plunks in the inning, finishing with three in the game.
MVC nibbled two runs back in the top of the third, with Woods answering with a slightly more pedestrian three in the bottom half of the frame.
The Vikings were able to tap into a bit of Mother Nature's fury in the top of the fourth, with Ivory Daniels and Luke Stoner bookending the six-run frame with home runs.
After the Owls added three runs in the fourth,
Cole Hartwick put on the best display of pitching from either team on the afternoon, hanging a pair of eggs on the board for MVC in the fifth and sixth.
In an all-staff day for both teams, the starters picked up the decisions.
Evan Johnston earned his first win of the year for WWU while Cole Deardorff dropped to 0-2.
Woods is set for a home-and-home four-game set this weekend, hosting Culver-Stockton College in a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Friday before heading to Canton for a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.
