ST. LOUIS - William Woods University (21-14, 11-3 American Midwest Conference) took care of business in St. Louis over the weekend, finishing it by winning its eighth straight after achieving a series sweep against the University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy in St. Louis (10-22, 3-13) Sunday at Affton Athletic Association. With solid pitching in both games, the Owls beat the Eutectics 3-1 in Game 1 and 5-1 in Game 2.
"We left a lot of runners on base in the first game, but had some big hits and sac flies in key situations," William Woods softball coach
Tracy Gastineau said. "We also scored early in both games, which was nice to set a tone."
Despite scoring just three runs in the first game, WWU had five extra-base hits among its eight total hits, played a flawless game in the field and stole two bases -
Mariah Prince and
Brooklynn Spillman swiped a bag. UHSP had one run on four hits and committed four errors.
After a quiet first inning, the Owls' bats went to work in the top of the second as
Sammy Lohnes hit a leadoff two-bagger to center field, then she scored two batters later on
Addie Rhea's sacrifice fly to left. Following another double, hit by
Jessica Keilholz, WWU capped its two-run second inning when
Rylee Hagens brought Keilholz home on her triple to right.
Although The Woods reached on a walk to begin the third inning and a double to start the fourth, the Owls took until the fifth to send home their final run.
Ella Aguiar didn't need baserunners to put WWU on the scoreboard as she did it herself, smoking a solo shot to center field and giving the Owls a 3-0 advantage on their lone run and hit of the fifth.
William Woods starter
Sarah Randermann was wheeling and dealing until the seventh when the Eutectics did what they could to muster a comeback. The first five UHSP hitters reached in the bottom of the seventh -the Owls made one out, at home, in that time - and the last Eutectic to reach drove in the host's lone run of the contest on a bases-loaded fielder's choice. Randermann exemplified her senior leadership, punching out the next two UHSP batters to lock down a WWU Game 1 win.
Tossing the complete-game victory, Randermann (8-8) struck out seven batters in as many innings and gave up one earned run while walking one and hitting one batter.
In Game 2, the Owls built off their already impressive series-opening performance, plating five runs on 11 hits (four extra-base hits) - Keilholz had a game-high three hits (two doubles) - recording no errors and stealing two bases - both by Prince, giving her three on the day. The Eutectics also improved, notching one run on seven hits and making two errors.
William Woods jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, scoring three runs on three hits, one error and one walk. A Eutectics miscue gifted the Owls their first run as Prince advanced home and Spillman took third when Lohnes reached first on an error by the center fielder. Spillman and Lohnes scored in the following at-bat as Aguiar roped a two-RBI single to left-center field.
Unlike the first game, UHSP got on the scoreboard early, registering its lone run of the contest on its third and final single of the bottom of the second, which went to left center and drove in a runner from third.
The Owls responded in the following frame, going back in front by three runs (4-1) on Rhea's sacrifice fly that plated Lohnes, who started the third inning with the first of back-to-back base hits.
While William Woods did have a double in the fifth and sixth innings, it took until the seventh inning for the Owls to capitalize on an extra-base hit. Lohnes, who smacked a triple down the right-field line to open the seventh, scored the game's final run and the last of her game-high three runs on Aguiar's sacrifice fly to left field, recording her third and final game-high RBI.
In the bottom of the seventh, Owls starter
Taylor Baumhoer quickly dispatched the Eutectics after giving up a leadoff single, striking out one looking before forcing a flyout to left field and to the shortstop to finish off WWU's fourth straight AMC series victory.
Baumhoer (9-5) tossed Woods's second seven-strikeout complete-game victory Sunday, and she only allowed one earned run and handed one free pass (HBP).
The Owls' fantastic form has occurred at the right time. They will travel back to Fulton and host rival Columbia College (24-8, 15-1 AMC) in a doubleheader, beginning at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Backer Sports Complex. The Owls and Cougars were originally scheduled to meet on April 5, but the series was postponed due to rain.
