COLUMBIA, Mo. - In a pair of pitching duels, William Woods (21-26) survived elimination in the AMC Softball Championship with a 1-0 shutout of Columbia College (20-19) after falling 1-0 to Central Baptist College (32-20) on Wednesday.
Micaiah Cordell struck out four and allowed just one walk in seven innings of work, scattering four hits against the Cougars.
The third meeting between Central Baptist and William Woods in the space of two weeks saw offense in much shorter supply than the regular season doubleheader.
Woods managed to put a pair of runners aboard in the first inning, with Brooklyn Spillman taking advantage of an error and stealing second.
Ella Aguiar made solid contact on her at-bat, but unfortunately Kori Truelove was able to make the grab and throw to third for the tag on Aguiar.
Brooke Lopez earned a walk to put runners on first and second, but the Owls couldn't push a run across.
The Mustangs managed to put two runners aboard in the bottom of the second, but Woods managed to get out of the jam with a strikeout and an easy popup.
Woods threatened again in the top of the third, as
Jessica Keilholz led off with a single and advanced to second on a sac bunt by Spillman. After a flyout to left, Lopez doubled into right field, but the Mustangs were able to keep the shutout with a strong throw from right to get Keilholz at home.
After a defensive back-and-forth, Woods tried to put together a two-out rally in the top of the seventh.
Sydney Wilbeck and Keilholz collected back-to-back singles, but the Owls couldn't scratch a run across.
Unfortunately for the Owls, Abi West was able to finally break through in the bottom of the seventh, with a two-out solo home run to claim the win.
After a brief rest, William Woods jumped into an elimination game against Columbia. Similar to the contest against Central Baptist, the tournament game saw offense at a considerable premium compared to the regular season doubleheader between the teams.
This time, however, the Owls had the upper hand. Neither team was able to muster more than a single baserunner through the first five and a half innings.
In the bottom of the sixth, Spillman led off with a single, then advanced to second on a one-out wild pitch. A single by Lopez put runners on the corners, then she stole second. A perfectly-played squeeze bunt by
Rylee Hagens allowed Spillman to slide around the tag attempt by catcher Emily King to put Woods in front. Unfortunately, the Owls weren't able to add more runs in the inning.
Columbia managed a brief glimmer of hope in the top of the seventh with back-to-back one-out singles, but Cordell was able to draw easy popups from Jodi Polly and Jazlin Gottman to secure the win.
Next up for Woods is a rematch against no. 3 seed Williams Baptist. First pitch is set for 10 a.m. on May 2.
