FULTON, Mo. - William Woods (25-19, 16-10 Heart) hosted a familiar foe at home as Missouri Baptist (37-7, 23-3 Heart) traveled to Fulton, where the Owls would split with the #6 team in the nation.
Jude Gremillion started his day well with a lead-off solo home run to put the Owls ahead early against the Spartans in the bottom of the first. The Spartans would respond quickly with two of their own at the top of the second with two consecutive home runs.
Missouri Baptist would continue to increase their lead in the top of the third with 3 more runs, 5-1. The Owls' offense struggled to get going after the first inning, and they continued to search for more runs throughout the game.
The Spartans would tack on another 3 in the top of the seventh inning to give the Owls their final blow in the first game, as the offense struggled to get anything going throughout the game. The Owls would fall 8-1 in the first game of the doubleheader.
Coach Cavness would give the ball to
AJ Vasquez, as he would come in as one of the Owls' strongest arms. Vasquez would turn in a quality start and a pitching performance equivalent to Artwork. He would hold the #6 team in the nation to just 6 hits while striking out 6 Spartans and throwing a complete game shutout.
The Owls would need just one run to back the performance of Vasquez on the mound, and the Spartans would gift them their first run in the bottom of the second with an error to score
Carson Shettlesworth.
Jude Gremillion would single in the bottom of the first via a base hit and work his way to third base after a stolen base and an error from the catcher. A Shettlesworth single would bring Gremillion in to score and give the Owls a 2-0 lead.
This lead is all Vasquez and the Owls defense needed as they would clamp the hatches down and hold off the Spartans and split the day and take home their first victory over Missouri Baptist since 2022, 2-0.
With this win, the Owls have inked their name into the Heart of America Conference tournament in their first year in the Heart of America Conference, starting next week.
Owls will finish their series with Missouri Baptist on Saturday to cap off their 2026 season, starting at 1:00 p.m.
