COLUMBIA, Mo. - After being swept in the regular season and held to just two runs in each game, no. 6 seed William Woods (20-25) finally found its offensive legs against no. 3 seed Williams Baptist (33-16), winning 4-1 in an 11-inning marathon.
Sarah Randermann (6-7) did the heavy lifting for Woods, striking out eight and giving up just two walks on the afternoon.
The first inning gave the best hint of what the contest had in store, as both teams retired in order.
Leading off the second,
Brooke Lopez found a 2-1 pitch from starter Emberlin Caldwell to her liking, punching her second home run in as many games over the fence in left center to put the Owls in front.
Woods nearly allowed the Eagles back into the game in the bottom of the second, as a two-out pickoff attempt to second by
Ally Mahoney was off the mark. Both WBU runners dusted themselves off and tried to advance, but it was ill-advised as
Sydney Wilbeck was in a perfect spot to back up the pick attempt and gunned down Paige Thomas coming from first by a good three steps.
The Owls worked around WBU hits in the fourth and fifth innings, although it wasn't without some nervous moments for WWU. With one out and a runner on second, Madison Shoebottom belted a 1-2 pitch from Randermann, but it hung up in the wind and drifted foul off the top of the left-field fence. Randermann made the most of the second chance, leaving Shoebottom slack-jawed with a changeup.
Brooklyn Spillman retired the side with a brilliant defensive play, as Madison Knight caught the underside of the ball on a bunt attempt. Spillman raced from third and was able to backhand the catch sliding into the on-deck circle.
In the bottom of the seventh, Shoebottom made up for the looking strikeout in her previous plate appearance, lasering a first pitch offering over the left field fence to tie the game at 1-1.
After the Woods defense picked Randermann up with an easy groundout to second, Thomas managed to work to a 2-1 count. Pitching coach
Jordan Logan made a quick relief call, inserting
Micaiah Cordell. Cordell got Thomas to pop up to
Arianna Donovan at first, but then issued a walk and gave up a single to put runners at the corners.
Brief respite finished, Randermann re-entered and picked up the final out of the seventh, sending the game to extra innings.
The Owls threatened in the top of the eighth, but couldn't push a run across. The bottom of the frame was nearly the worst-case scenario for Woods, as WBU managed back-to-back leadoff hits and brought Shoebottom to the plate with one out and runners on second and third.
First base being open gave Woods the opportunity to intentionally walk Shoebottom and dare the Eagles to score, and the Owls defense backed up the courageous decision. Randermann confidently called off her infielders to squeeze a towering popup by Knight for the second out, then hung a backwards K on Thomas.
After surviving the bases-loaded scare in the eighth, Woods held on in the next two innings to keep the game tied 1-1 heading to the 11th.
Addie Rhea drew a pinch hit walk to lead off the 11th, chasing Caldwell from the game. The pitching change was all that Woods needed, as
Jessica Keilholz reached on an error as the third-baseman's throw to first pulled the fielder off the bag. Spillman demonstrated some offensive prowess, dropping a bunt to load the bases, with Aguiar following with a single up the middle to score two.
A one-out single by
Rylee Hagens pushed the lead to 4-1, but the rally stalled for Woods.
It was a moot point, as WWU's defense made quick work of the Eagles in the bottom of the frame to secure the win.
The Owls return to Field 2 at Antimi Softball Complex on Wednesday for a noon semifinal against no. 2 seed Central Baptist.
