FULTON, Mo.- In what was a beautiful spring day for baseball, the Owls (181-1, 11-7 AMC) hosted AMC Rival Columbia College (20-5, 14-4 AMC) for the start of a four-game series on Saturday afternoon. William Woods, on a nine-game winning streak, looked to take a series win from the Cougars for the first time in five years.
Game one saw the Cougars jump to an early lead, scoring three runs in the top half of the first inning. Columbia College had three base knocks in the frame adding two Owl miscues to take the 3-0 lead after the top of the frame. However, these were the only three runs scored by the Cougars in the game.
Veteran right-handed arm Max Benton with the complete game finish on the mound, allowing only six hits across seven innings of work with no earned runs credited to his name.
The Woods, down three in the seventh inning, saw Cade Irwin earn a leadoff walk to spark the Owls offense. Pinch runner Ben Kern would advance to second on a passed ball that kicked off the leather of the Cougar backstop, to put a runner in scoring position. With a 2-2 count and Kern advancing to third, pinch hitter Brendan Rochelle earned the RBI with a sacrifice fly into deep center to cut the Cougar's lead to two. Another pinch hitter, Tyler Horton, reignited the offense with a single into right field, followed by a base knock from pinch hitter Jared Bendfeld. With the tying run on first, the Owls were unable to mount the comeback falling short 3-1.
In game two The Woods tallied nine hits and five runs but were unable to keep the Columbia College offense off the board. The Cougars scored in every inning in the contest, tallying twelve total runs on fifteen hits.
Facing a four-run deficit in the bottom of the third, William Woods fought back scratching four runs in the frame to tie the game. With two runners on, Cade Irwin doubled down the right field line scoring Colby Caton from third base and advancing Jacob McWhirter to the third base bag. Right fielder Jackson Kirn lofted a high arcing sacrifice fly to center field that scored McWhirter and moved Irwin up a bag on the throw. With two runs in, and two outs in the frame Woods needed a big knock to cut the lead. It was third baseman Jared Bendfeld with the stick, facing the Cougar left hander. On a 2-1 count, Bendfeld smacked a fastball at the belt over the scoreboard in left field for a game-tying two-run blast.
The Columbia offense continued their steady day at the plate, immediately retaking the lead scoring a run in the top half of the fourth inning. Woods was unable to reignite the offense until the seventh inning, facing a 12-4 deficit. In the bottom of the inning Woods tacked on one run off the bat of Cade Irwin, who doubled into deep center field to bring home McWhirter and set the game at a 12-5 finish.
