FULTON, Mo. – William Woods (19-16, 10-8 Heart) hosted Central Methodist University (22-15, 11-7 Heart) for their senior day, where we would honor our 10 seniors for the Owls and walk away with a split on the day.
After some weather delays, game one got started early for the Owls when they would spark a 4-run bottom of the second, started by
Evan Rainey, who singled into right field to score
Carson Shettlesworth, then a double from
Aidan Gaither doubled to left center to tack on another run.
Ryan Retone would cap off the inning with a base hit into right field to score Gaither and give the Owls a quick 4-0 lead.
Gavin Allen would start cruising with this run support, as he would silence the Eagles' offense, going 5.1 innings, striking out six Central Methodist hitters while working around 5 of their hits.
The Owls would continue to tack on to their lead with a run in the bottom of the third.
Cam Casso would single in the bottom of the fourth to score
Ben Kern, and another single from
Kaden Kinsler would score Gremillion to increase the Owls' lead to 7-0.
Owl's offense would keep tacking with 3 runs in the bottom of the fifth inning with a sac fly from
Justin Dameron and a double from
Jude Gremillion to give the Owls a commanding 10-1 lead.
The Eagles wouldn't go quietly, as they would start to cause some chaos on the base paths, starting with 4 runs in the top of the sixth as the Owls' bullpen struggled to find their rhythm against the Eagles' offense.
Woods would go scoreless in the bottom of the sixth and enter the seventh inning up 10-5 over the Eagles. CMU would continue to pester the Owls with 3 runs in the top of the seventh as the Owls searched for that final out.
Keith Piepmeier would deliver that for the Owls as he would record the final out of the game with a strikeout to give the Owls a 10-8 game one win on senior day.
Game two flipped the script as the 20 combined hits from game one turned into only 8 combined hits in game two, which was highlighted by a pitching duel between
AJ Vasquez and the CMU hurler.
Vasquez would toss a complete game while striking out 5 eagles and giving up just 3 runs against a tough CMU offense. Despite this start, the Owls would struggle to get any offense going.
Owls would strike first in the bottom of the first to go up 1-0 on the Eagles early. Woods would strike again in the bottom of the fifth with a single from Gremillion to score Gaither and give the Owls a 2-0 lead late in the game.
The Eagles would finally get to Vasquez on the mound as they would put up three runs in the top of the sixth to take the lead late in the game. The Owls would get some traffic on the bases in the bottom of the seventh, but would ultimately fall to the Eagles 3-2 for a heartbreaking game 2 loss.
Owls will return to finish their series with the Eagles on Monday as they will travel to Fayette to finish their series with the Eagles.
