FULTON, Mo.- William Woods (24-16) took a break from their road trip to host KCAC member University of Saint Mary (10-28) at Backer Sports Complex in a midweek showdown. The Owls tallied 11 hits and 10 runs in the nine-inning contest, defeating the Spires for the first time at home.
The Owls opened up the scoring early, tallying two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Sophomore DH Colby Caton ignited the offense for the Owls barreling a one-out base knock to left field. Kaden Kinsler, the Owls lead in RBI and today's three-hole, worked a six-pitch at bat for a walk to leave runners at first and second for Jacob McWhirter. The Woods' cleanup hitter singled off of the infield lip to score Caton from second base, and advancing Kinsler to third. Next hitter, Cade Irwin, hit a sacrifice fly to left field to bring the Owls lead to 2-0. A lead that they would not relinquish the rest of the contest.
Although holding onto the lead, Woods surrendered one run in each of the second and third innings to tie the game at two. The Owls' offense answered with two more runs in the bottom of the third inning thanks to a leadoff single from Kinsler and a triple off the bat of Jacob McWhirter. The Owls' first baseman went around to score on the play due to a Spire miscue in the field.
William Woods was able to scratch one run in the fourth before putting up another 2-spot in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, and runners on second and third, true freshman Camron Casso barreled a fastball down the line for a triple that scored Jared Bendfeld and Irwin carrying the Owls lead to five runs (7-2).
The Spire offense smacked one over the fence in the top of the sixth to cut the lead to three runs. Taking note of using the longball to score, Owls' centerfielder Kaden Kinsler launched his ninth home run of the year in the bottom half of the frame.
With the Owls holding a 9-4 lead, Woods' skipper John Cavness turned to Keith Piepmeier to record the three-inning save. The Owls tacked on another run in the bottom of the seventh inning, riding the arm of Piepmeier to a 10-4 win over the Spires.
Woods is back in action this weekend at Crowley's Ridge College in Paragould, Ark., for their next to last AMC conference matchup.
