FULTON, Mo. – William Woods (13-12, 4-4 Heart) battled on day two with Park University (9-14, 1-6 Heart), with both games ending in walk-off fashion for the Owls for their first series win in the Heart of America conference.
Game one featured a pitching duel for both squads as
Gavin Allen took the bump and would not give the ball up to anyone. Allen would cruise along, not allowing a run until the fifth inning while striking out 6 park batters while only walking two.
With offense tough to come by early in this ball game, Kaden Kinlser stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the fourth and sent a ball over the centerfield wall to give the Owls a 1-0 lead over the Pirates. Later in the inning,
Evan Rainey would single into center to also score
Ben Kern and give the Owls a comfortable 2-0 lead.
Parks' offense would scratch two runs across in the final two innings to force extra innings in game one. Allen would take the ball into the eighth inning and go one-two-three with the park offense for one of the better starts of the year for the right-hander.
The bottom of the eighth started with a lead-off walk to Kinsler, followed by a single from Carson Shuttleworth to set up first and second for the Owls with a chance to walk it off. A sacrifice bunt from
Colby Caton to advance the runners into scoring position would set up Rainey once again to call the game for the Owls.
On a 1-2 pitch, Rainey would poke the pitch into left field to score Kinsler and give the Owls a 3-2 walk-off win over the Pirates and set them up for their first series win in the Heart.
Game two started early for the Owls as a single from Shettlesworth and a backside two-run home run from Caton would put the Owls ahead 3-0. Later in the fourth inning,
Jude Gremillion would tack onto the lead for the Owls with a single to center to score Jackson Kiln, scoring to extend the lead to 4-0.
That run support would be what Groseclose would need as he turned in five no-hit innings while striking out four in the process. Despite his cruise, the Park offense would get to him at the top of the sixth and do their damage with two outs, putting up four runs on the Owls and tying the ball game up.
After a scoreless seventh inning for both squads, it set the Owls up to see if they still had their eighth-inning magic saved from game one. A lead-off single from
Grant O'Haver, a stolen base from courtesy runner Kern, would set up the Owls with the winning run in scoring position.
Flawed control from the reliever would give Kern another free ninety feet of base with the winning run at third for the Owls. With two outs and their chances looking slim now, the first pitch of the at-bat would find the backstop and give Kern the chance to score and give the Owls their second consecutive walk-off of the day and earn a series win over the Pirates.
Woods will hit the road for Kansas again next week to try and get above.500 in conference play with their series with MidAmerica Nazarene, with game one on Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. first pitch.
