Box Score LEAVENWORTH, Kan. - Cade Irwin had a field day as the Owls' designated hitter on Wednesday, going 4-for-5 with 3 RBIs as William Woods (13-14-1) came from behind twice to down University of Saint Mary (14-12) by a 9-6 count.
Tyler Abney turned in a dominant performance in relief, pitching 5.2 shutout innings and striking out five.
The Spires broke open the game with a four-run second inning, as Brendan Roop's one-out single was the first of three straight for USM, with the third in the string scoring Roop. A walk loaded the bases for the home squad, but Adam Celestino's liner to short gave the Owls a brief glimmer of hope. The glimmer was short-lived as Justin Nunez cranked a 3-RBI triple to right center.
After escaping the second and retiring the side with a strikeout and an unassisted double play by
Matt Hanson at first, Woods answered with a four-spot of its own in the top of the fourth.
The Owls did most of the offensive work on their own, but took advantage of a four-pack of balks by Lucas Barta as well.
Kaden Kinsler drew a leadoff walk, with
Tyler Horton sending him to third with a single to right. The first balk put Horton on second and scored Kinsler, with another balk moving Horton to third.
Hanson grounded out to his opposite number at first, but it was enough to score Horton. After
Jacob McWhirter flew out to right,
Kamron Morriss singled to left trying to spark the rally.
Taylor Hopkins was plunked to put two runners on, with back-to-back balks scoring courtesy runner
Vincent Pyeatt and leaving Hopkins at third. Irwin looped a single to right to score Hopkins, but the Owls rally stalled with the game tied 4-4.
USM reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the fourth, scratching across a pair of runs before Abney came in and retired the side, but Hanson pulled one back for Woods in the top of the fifth with a one-out RBI single that scored Kinsler from his leadoff single.
Irwin led off the sixth inning with a double to right, racing to third on a sac bunt by
AJ Willenberg.
Jack Niggemeier rocketed a triple down the right field line to score Irwin, with a suicide squeeze by Kinsler scoring Niggemeier to give Woods a 7-6 lead.
Irwin plated a pair of insurance runs for Woods in the sixth and ninth innings, as the Owls retired the Spires in order in three straight innings.
USM tried to spark a rally in the bottom of the ninth, as Ben Cordova led off with a double and Trevor Neely followed with a single to put runners on the corner. Having remained in the game to play first base, Barta stepped to the plate hoping to atone for his pitching struggles, but instead sent a sharp liner straight into the glove of Willenberg at third, with Willenberg beating Cordova back to the bag for the unassisted double play.
The Owls continue their road swing this weekend, opening conference play with a series at Hannibal-LaGrange University. First pitch on Friday is set for 1 p.m.
