FULTON, Mo.- In a monumental day for William Woods (18-9, 11-5 AMC), the Owls finished off their four-game sweep of American Midwest Conference opponent Hannibal-LaGrange University (3-15, 2-14 AMC) to earn head coach John Cavness his 100th career win at the helm of the program.
"It was a good weekend for the Owls." stated Cavness. "It was fun getting the 100th at Backer with these guys. Not only was it my 100th win but Coach Bracht's as well since he has been with me the entire time. He does a lot for this program and deserves just as much credit. Much thanks to my wife, coaching staff, and the amazing athletes that keep this thing going."
A single by Jacob McWhirter in the first inning got Woods on the board, scoring Kaden Kinsler and Colby Caton to take the early 2-0 lead. The Owls tallied a lone run in the third inning, again off the bat of Jacob McWhirter, when the designated hitter lofted a ball into no-man's-land that scored Colby Caton from third.
William Woods gave up the only Trojan run of the contest in the fifth inning on a single to right field. The Owls offense responded with two runs in the bottom half of the sixth inning, setting the final score at 5-1. Peyton Clampitt racked up 6 k's on the day in his six and two-thirds innings of work, earning the win. Carson Prescott is credited with the save in the contest, getting the final out with the bases loaded.
In game two, The Woods offense picked 11 runs on 11 hits. Woods opened the scoring tallying five runs in the bottom of the first inning. Ryan Retone and Colby Caton jump started the inning earning back-to-back walks right off the jump. After a double steal, Kaden Kinsler hit a sacrifice fly center field scoring the first run of the day for the Owls. With Caton on third, Jacob McWhirter continued his hot streak singling into right field to set Woods up with a 2-0 lead early in the contest. Three hitters later, it was the redshirt sophomore Jared Bendfeld who doubled off the top of the wall in left center that scored Cade Irwin and Jackson Kirn who reached base earlier in the inning. Backstop Justin Dameron drove home the last run of the inning for William Woods on a hard grounder into right field bringing Bendfeld around to score.
The Woods scored two more runs in the second inning, before giving up one of two runs to the Trojan offense in the third. The Owls offense drove in two runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings, achieving their game total 11 runs. Woods gave up a single, moot run in the top of the seventh inning as they go on to win 11-1. Jacob McWhirter led the way on offense going 3-4 with four RBIs on the game joining Jared Bendfeld and Kaden Kinsler as the three Owls with extra-base hits.
William Woods hosts Columbia College next weekend in a four-game series at Backer Sports Complex. The games are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday with first pitch at 1 p.m. both days.
