OZARK, Mo. - Taking a brief step out of conference play - albeit against a future AMC foe - William Woods (18-22) split a pair of extra-innings games against Mission University (10-19) on Tuesday.
Sarah Randermann turned in her second complete-game outing in a row, striking out 10 Patriots batters as Woods erupted for an 11-1 win in game one, but the Owls couldn't pick up the sweep, falling 4-3 in the lunchcap.
Woods opened the scoring in the first inning, as
Sydney Wilbeck opened with a one-out single and advanced to second on a wild pitch.
Jessica Keilholz drew a walk to put a pair of runners on, then Wilbeck moved up to third on a deep fly to right by
Brooke Lopez. Another wild pitch allowed Wilbeck to score and moved Keilholz to second.
Defensively, WWU held Mission scoreless through five innings but wasn't able to extend beyond a 1-0 lead despite threatening in the fifth and sixth.
MU finally scratched a run across in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at 1-1, and escaped a one-out threat by Woods in the top of the seventh. Keilholz poked a single into right field and Lopez doubled to put runners in scoring position for WWU, but
Iliana Manzano grounded out and
Rylee Hagens popped out to short to end the inning.
Woods retired the Patriots in order in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings, then the floodgates opened. After a leadoff walk to Donovan chased Mission's starting pitcher from the game, reliever Kate Potter struggled to record an out. Brooklyn Spillman loaded the bases on an error by the first baseman, then
Ella Aguiar drew an RBI walk. A wild pitch scored Mahoney, briefly taking away the bases-loaded threat for Woods, but pinch hitter
Addie Rhea finished her plate appearance with a walk to reload.
Potter gave way to Khloe Hendricks in the circle, but Keilholz shrugged off the change with a sac fly to left field. Lopez went back to left for an RBI single, with Manzano reloading the bases with another walk. Hagens scored two with another single and the rout was on as WWU scored 10 runs before retiring.
Randermann and the Owls defense made quick work of the Patriots in the bottom of the eighth to claim the win.
Woods outhit Mission 10-6 in game two, but minor defensive lapses came back to punish the Owls, as the Patriots took advantage of errors in the second and eighth inning. Apryl Zeno reached on an error and scored one of two runs for Mission in the bottom of the second.
The Owls scratched across a run in the top of the third and capitalized on a Patriot error in the top of the seventh to tie the game at 2-2, then held on in the bottom of the frame to force extra innings.
Woods took a 3-2 lead in the top half of the extra frame, but a wild pitch shook up the Owls defense, as it nearly turned into a walk-off but for a quick scramble by Mahoney to get Macie Vestal trying to score the winning run from second. Khloe Hendrickson drew a walk then was able to score from second as the putout attempt sailed wide and into the outfield.
The Owls return to Backer West to close out the home side of the regular season schedule, hosting Williams Baptist on Friday, April 19 in a 2 p.m. doubleheader.
