OLATHE, Kan. – William Woods (15-12, 6-4 Heart) traveled to Kansas to continue its Heart of America conference schedule against MidAmerica Nazarene (10-21, 2-8 Heart). The Owls would walk away with a sweep of the day, winning game one 5-0 and game two 9-3, increasing their winning streak to 5 games.
Jakob Koehn took the bump for game one of the series and did not disappoint, turning in a quality start for the Owls. Koehn would go the distance for the Owls, only allowing 3 hits while striking out 4, which was good for his first complete game shutout of the year.
One run was what Koehn needed, but the Owls were able to manufacture five runs for the righty.
Carson Shettlesworth got the scoring going for the Owls with a base hit in the first to score Kinsler.
Ryan Retone would double in the second to add on another run with Kirn scoring to increase their lead to 2-0.
The Owls' offense would go quiet for much of the game until the sixth, when back-to-back doubles from
Colby Caton and
Evan Rainey would add to more for the Owls and seal the deal for Koehn.
Walking into game two, the Owls would get started early, with Shettlesworth's sac fly giving the Owls an early 1-0 lead. An error by the Pioneers would gift the Owls another run and put them up 2-0 early.
AJ Vasquez would take this early run support and run with. He would take after Koehn in game one and also go the distance, which was consecutive complete games for the Owls' pitching staff, preserving the bullpen for the Owls. Vasquez would turn in a complete game on seven hits, three runs allowed, and 3 strikeouts.
Owls would get the bats going again in the fourth as Jared Bendfield singled to score Groseclose and Caton to increase the lead to 4-1. Back-to-back singles from
Cam Casso and
Jude Gremillion would keep the runs coming in for the Owls. To cap off the inning,
Kaden Kinsler tripled to right to wrap up a five-run inning for the Owls.
Pioneers would get one back in the bottom of the sixth to make it 7-2, but the Owls would respond immediately. A pinch-hit single from
Seth Christie would tack on another for the Owls, as well as a single from
Brayden Groseclose, to give the Owls a 9-3 lead.
Vasquez would secure the win in the bottom of the seventh and give the Owls a sweep on the day with the dominant performance from the Owls' starters.
Owls return tomorrow to finish the series, starting an hour earlier at noon for the first pitch against MidAmerica Nazarene.
