NEVADA, Mo. - The Owls of William Woods University (17-14, 7-3 American Midwest Conference) avoided the long game by plating five runs in the seventh inning of their 12-11 Game 1 victory against Cottey College (15-19, 5-7) and earned a short-game, five-inning win that began with an 11-run first inning on their way to a 12-2 Game 2 triumph and series sweep of the Comets Wednesday at Vanek Family Softball Field.
"Our offense really came through today," William Woods softball coach
Tracy Gastineau said. "When you're down by five, heading into the sixth inning and can secure a win, that's exciting.
Sara Foster had two big at-bats in the sixth and seventh. Her bases-clearing triple with two outs in the seventh was a clutch at-bat.
"Jessica coming in to pitch in the bottom of the fifth through sixth and Sarah securing the save in the seventh were also key factors in the game."
In the opening game of the doubleheader, William Woods scored 12 runs on 15 hits and committed six errors while Cottey had 11 runs on 11 hits and made one error.
With one out in the top of the first,
Brooklynn Spillman skied the softball over the wall for the Owls' first of three long balls in the series, bringing in
Lexi Lewis, who reached on a leadoff single, to hand WWU a 2-0 lead. The Comets cut it to a one-run game the following frame as they hit an RBI single to left field with two outs.
The run-scoring didn't slow down as the Owls scored three runs on three hits in the second inning.
Addie Rhea, who opened the inning with a two-bagger to center field, the first of her team-high three hits, scored two batters later when
Rylee Hagens roped a base hit to center. Then with two outs, Lewis increased WWU's advantage to 5-1, smacking the Owls' second and final home run of Game 1, a two-run shot to right field.
The Comets applied pressure on Woods, narrowing their deficit to one run (5-4) for the second time by plating three runs on two hits, two walks, one HBP and an error in the third inning.
Cottey gained its first and only lead of the series, 7-5, in the fourth inning on a two-out, three-run homer from the bat of Makayla Snyder. An inning later, the Comets notched their second big fly, another three-run shot, coming from Amelia Gassman this time, which gave them a 10-5 cushion.
Answering in the sixth, the Owls started the inning with three straight singles and a fielder's choice before pinch-hitter
Sara Foster, a freshman from Newbury Park, California, reached on a one-bagger and drove in
Jessica Keilholz and Rhea for the first two of her game-high five RBI. The Comets were held without a run in the bottom of the sixth, and the hosts had the upper hand 10-7 going into the seventh and final inning.
Like the previous inning, William Woods got hit after hit to begin the seventh, recording two singles and a double over the first four hitters. During the last at-bat of that stretch,
Ella Aguiar sent home Spillman and
Sammy Lohnes to third base on her base hit. Lohnes didn't need a hit to make it home as she made the risky choice to steal home and did it successfully, which put it at 10-9 Cottey. Four batters later, Foster produced the game-deciding runs in her second pinch-hit appearance in as many innings as she made it all the way to third base for a triple.
The Comets did what they could to try and come back, with the first two batters getting on base, the first on an error and the second on a single that put runners on first and third. Following that hit, Gastineau brought in her second reliever,
Sarah Randermann, and the senior leader epitomized that by striking out one and giving up no hits to register her first save this season. While the Comets didn't have a hit, the first two Randermann faced got on base on an error and a fielder's choice, but the Owls' hurler punched out one and forced a groundout to third base to secure a WWU victory.
Keilholz (2-1) earned the win out of the bullpen for the Owls, allowing no earned runs (one unearned) on one hit and one walk while striking out one.
On the basepaths, William Woods' Lewis, Lohnes,
Corynne Miller and Foster stole a base each.
The Owls had a stress-free series finale, scoring 12 runs on 13 hits and making just one error, while the Comets had two runs on five hits and had one error. Making Game 2 a breeze for WWU, it posted all but one of its runs in the top of the first.Â
Three-hole hitter Spillman gave the Owls their game-deciding run with only one out made in the contest, slapping an RBI single that scored Lewis. That was the first of Spillman's game-high four RBI and three hits. Spillman then swiped both of her game-high two bags over the next two batters before scoring the first of her two runs on Keilholz's base hit.
That began a string of seven straight run-scoring plate appearances for WWU. Following Keiholz's RBI single, Randermann had a one-run base hit, Rhea scored on Hagens's bases-loaded walk, Keilholz made it home on Lewis's single and Randermann walked home on Prince's bases-filled free pass before the Comets pulled their starter with two outs in the top of the first.
Not letting off, the Owls plated five runs over their next two at-bats: Spillman drilled her second run-scoring single, this one bringing home two runs, and Lohnes had the Owls' best blast of their three, a three-run shot to cap the 10-run two-out rally in a big way.
Cottey got on the scoreboard on an RBI double with two outs on the bottom of the first, which made it a 10-run (11-1) William Woods lead. The Comets scored their final run on an RBI single in the third inning.
Fittingly, the Owls' best hitter in Game 2 produced their final run as Spillman laced a double that brought two-sport standout Prince home from first base.
Despite pitching an inning in relief in Game 1, Randermann (7-8) threw six innings Wednesday. Tossing a five-inning complete-game victory in Game 2, Randermann gave up just one earned run and sent one Comet packing.
With Wednesday's pair of wins, William Woods has won five of its last six games, heading into its next series against Harris-Stowe State University (1-27, 0-12 AMC). The doubleheader begins at 1 p.m. Saturday at Stars Park in St. Louis.
