FULTON, Mo. - From a grand slam to five stolen bases to two gems in the circle, the Owls of William Woods University (28-15, 18-4 American Midwest Conference) had it all on their way to a pair of short-game wins over the Stars of Stephens College (15-25, 9-13), which handed WWU second place in the AMC Thursday at Backer Sports Complex. The Owls won Game 1 11-0 and Game 2 9-1, both in five innings.

"Our pitchers worked efficiently today, and we had some timely hitting," William Woods softball coach Tracy Gastineau said. "A great way to finish on our field for the year."

In Game 1, 11 runs and 10 hits separated the Owls and Stars. WWU plated 11 runs on 13 hits and committed no errors, while SC had no runs on three hits and made no errors.

After Owls starter Taylor Baumhoer sent Stephens down 1-2-3 in the top of the first, Woods's bats followed with a three-spot in the bottom half. Mariah Prince smacked a triple to center field and scored WWU's first run on Jessica Keilholz's base hit to left, then after two more singles and a fielder's choice, the Owls brought home two more runners on Addie Rhea's one-bagger - advanced to second on the throw - that plated Ella Aguiar and Brooklynn Spillman. 

Following a scoreless second inning, William Woods extended its lead to 5-0 with two outs in the bottom of the third on pinch-hitter Taylor Lorenz's bases-loaded walk that scored Aguiar and Lexi Lewis's single to center that sent home Spillman.

The Owls kept it up, recording two more runs in the fourth, in one at-bat this time, as Rhea roped a two-RBI two-bagger to left that drove in Sammy Lohnes and Keilholz.

One at-bat scoring two runs may already be impressive, but The Woods did more than that to lock down the Game 1 win. In her final home series as an Owl, Keilholz made it unforgettable, securing a short-game victory by stroking a grand slam near the scoreboard in left. Kaitlyn Plassmeyer crossed home plate for the run-rule run, but naturally, three more followed: Lewis, Prince and home-run hitter Keilholz.

While it was an excellent series opener at the dish for most of William Woods's starting nine, Keilholz led the way, registering a game-high five RBI and tying for the game-high in hits (two) and runs (two). On the basepaths, Lohnes swiped the Owls' lone bag.

Baumhoer (11-6) finished the regular season of her freshman campaign, tossing her fourth complete-game shutout victory. Controlling her pitches effectively, Baumhoer allowed no walks and just one extra-base hit while striking out four Stars.

In Game 2, The Woods excelled at what it has been known for all year: Stealing bases - WWU took four bags. The Owls plated nine runs on nine hits and put together another flawless five innings in the field, and Stephens had one run on five hits and made the only error of the series.

The first time she stepped into the dish after her grand slam, Keilholz produced yet another run, scoring Lewis, who swiped all her game-high two bases after reaching on a leadoff walk, with her sacrifice fly to left field in the bottom of the first.

For the first and only time, the Stars tied it up, 1-1, in the top of the second as they had one run on one hit in the frame.

Not happy with that, the Owls followed that with their highest-scoring frame of the series, bringing in five runs on four hits and two walks in the bottom of the second. Lewis laced a two-RBI triple that plated Rylee Hagens and Rhea to kickstart the run-scoring, then Keilholz, with two outs, drove in Lewis on her single to left two at-bats later. Two hitters after that, Spillman belted a two-RBI double to left that scored Aguiar.

Only getting four innings of work at the plate in Game 2, William Woods wanted to entertain its home crowd for the final time in 2025. The Owls did that by recording the last third of their nine runs. Aguiar blasted an RBI double to left to score Prince before scoring herself on Lohnes's sacrifice fly to left. Left field proved to be a productive spot for WWU hitters as the final RBI at Backer in '25 occurred on Rhea's double there, Owls Choice softball MVP Spillman scoring their final run at home on the season.

Rhea's double was the last of four WWU extra-base hits in Game 2. Joining Lewis in taking extra bases in the form of stolen bases for the Owls were Prince and Plassmeyer, who snatched a bag apiece.

William Woods's reliable veteran in the circle, Randermann, finished her final regular season by going a team-best 12-8 and tallying an AMC-best 1.71 ERA, 0.14 better than any other hurler in the conference. Putting the bow on her outstanding year, Randermann punched out four, handed two free passes and gave up just one earned run in her five-inning victory.

The icing on the cake of an already fun day of softball under the Fulton sun at Backer, the Owls earned the No. 2 seed in the AMC Tournament over rival (RV) Columbia College (26-12, 17-5 AMC). 

William Woods has four days to prepare for what could hopefully be four straight days of AMC Tournament softball. The Owls open their postseason by facing No. 7 seed Crowley's Ridge College (18-24, 9-13 AMC) at noon Tuesday at City of Colleges Park in Conway, Arkansas. WWU outscored the Pioneers 22-2 over 12 innings in their two-game AMC set on March 29 in Fulton.   Read Full Article