FULTON, Mo. - On another windy day, William Woods University (11-10, 2-0 American Midwest Conference) livened up its offense, opening AMC play with a sweep over Hannibal-LaGrange University (3-15, 0-2) Friday at Backer Sports Complex. The Owls beat the Trojans 10-2 in Game 1 and 4-1 in Game 2.
After struggling to get hits with a strong wind heading toward home on Tuesday, William Woods strived under the same conditions on Friday. In Game 1, the Owls rattled their bats for 10 runs on 11 hits while committing just one error, and the Trojans had two runs on six hits and made five errors.
The Woods plated the game's first run in the bottom of the first when
Corynne Miller scored on
Mariah Prince's single to the shortstop with two outs. Miller used her speed to get on base two at-bats before Prince's RBI base hit, laying down a bunt single and advancing to second on an HLGU putout at home; then, the play before Prince came to the plate, she reached third on a groundout to the shortstop.
An inning later, the Owls tacked on four runs to their lead on two hits, two errors and a walk. After back-to-back singles to begin the bottom of the second,
Ella Aguiar reached home when
Rylee Hagens bunted and reached first base on an error by the Trojans catcher. That started a string of three straight run-scoring plate appearances for WWU as
Jessica Keilholz scored on
Kaitlyn Plassmeyer's fielder's choice to the pitcher, and Hagens rushed home on a passed ball when HLGU walked
Lexi Lewis, ending the rally and giving the Owls a 5-0 advantage.
The Trojans narrowed their deficit to 5-2 in the top of the fifth when they recorded back-to-back RBI singles, the first to third base and second to left field.
In the following frame, William Woods came one run shy of the run rule, extending its lead to 9-2. To get those four runs in the fifth,
Addie Rhea drove in Prince on her sacrifice fly to right field,
Taylor Lorenz sent Keilholz across the plate on her pinch-hit single to right field - Lorenz advanced to second on an error by the right fielder - and Lewis slapped a two-RBI single to right field, which scored Plassmeyer and Hagens.
Brooklynn Spillman, who received a leadoff walk to open the bottom of the sixth, called the game an inning early for William Woods when she scored on pinch-hitter
Faith Karr's bases-loaded free pass. That was the first career walk and RBI for Karr, a freshman who played prep softball at nearby Capital City.
Taylor Baumhoer (6-4) tossed all six innings and earned the win in the circle for the Owls. She punched out six batters, walked three and allowed two earned runs.
William Woods had its best game on the basepaths this season, swiping 10 bags - the Owls lead the AMC with 39 stolen bases on the year. WWU had three steal more than one base, Prince with four, Lewis with three and Plassmeyer with two, while Hagens took one bag.
In Game 2, The Woods registered six more stolen bases, notched four runs on nine hits and played a flawless game in the field. Hannibal-LaGrange scored one run on three hits and made two errors.
Unlike the first game, runs were hard to come by as there were all zeros on the scoreboard through five innings.
The Trojans recorded their only lead of the series when they plated their lone run of the contest on a bases-loaded RBI single to right field with one out in the top of the sixth. Owls second baseman Plassmeyer denied HLGU from extending its rally, tagging out a Trojan heading to second and making the throw to first baseman Keilholz to complete the frame-ending 4-3 double play.Â
William Woods carried its momentum over to the dish, scoring four runs on five hits and a walk in the game-deciding bottom of the sixth. After singling to center field to start the frame, Lewis stole two bases - the last of her five on the day - and made it home three batters later on Prince's sacrifice fly to left field, which tied it at 1.
Ella Aguiar followed that up by sending home the game-deciding run, Plassmeyer, from second base on her single to center. WWU added its final two runs when
Sammy Lohnes plated pinch runner Miller and Spillman on her sacrifice fly to center.
Owls starter
Sarah Randermann (4-6) pitched a gem, giving up just one earned run on three hits, one walk and one HBP while striking out eight in her seven-inning complete-game victory.
William Woods turns around and hosts reigning AMC regular-season champion, No. 16 Missouri Baptist University (20-4, 2-0 AMC) in a doubleheader, beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Owls control the all-time series against the Spartans 28-15, but they've lost the last four, with their last win over MBU being a 6-3 triumph on May 5, 2022, in Columbia, which advanced WWU to its most recent AMC Tournament championship.
