MARSHALL, Mo. - William Woods University softball (8-9, 2-0 Heart) opened their first season of Heart of America Athletic Conference play with a pair of wins over Missouri Valley College (2-18, 0-4 Heart) on the Viking's newly renovated field. The Owls cruised to an easy 6-2 victory in game one before taking game two by three runs.
The Owls opened the scoring with a three-spot in the top of the second, after a relatively uneventful first inning. Sara Foster, Emmy Blevins, and Sammy Lohnes connected for three consecutive singles to load the bases to start the frame. Taylor Lorenz reached base on a fielder's choice that cut down Foster on the journey to the plate bringing up Lexi Lewis with two down in the inning. Lewis, a senior from Washington, Mo., has been electric for Tracy Gastineau so far this spring to the tune of a .379 average; today would be no different. Lewis worked a 1-1 count before unloading on a fastball for a bases clearing triple to give the Owls an early 3-0 lead.
Billy Twigs collected another run in the top of the third on a sacrifice fly from Blevins that scored Ella Aguiar who reached base on a single to center earlier in the inning. The Vikings were held of the board until the fifth inning, when Missouri Valley scratched across two runs. William Woods answered with two more runs in the top of the sixth to round out the scoring for game one. Owls take the 6-2 win in their first ever Heart of America Athletic Conference contest.
In game two, The Woods notched the go-ahead run in the top of the first on a sacrifice fly from Addie Rhea to bring in Aguiar. The Owls tallied a lone run in each of the third and fourth innings, growing their advantage to 3-0. Three runs would prove enough for the Owls as Hailey Robinson kept the Missouri Valley offense at bay only allowing three hits in the contest, going the distance in the Owls shutout win.
William Woods returns to the diamond this weekend for their first home series of the year against William Penn University on Friday and Grand View University on Saturday.
