Fresh off winning its first American Midwest Conference regular-season title since 2009, the No. 21 William Woods University softball team has drawn the top seed for the conference's postseason tournament.
The Lady Owls (34-14) will host No. 8 seed Hannibal-LaGrange University (19-28) in a best-of-three AMC quarterfinal series starting with games at 2 and 4 p.m. Friday at Backer Sports Complex. If necessary, the deciding third game would be played at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Baseball
William Woods 9
Missouri Valley 1
The Owls rode a seven-run outburst in the first inning and five pitchers combined to limit the Vikings to a run on six hits in Tuesday night's win at Backer Sports Complex.
The victory was the sixth straight and ninth in the last 10 games for William Woods University (33-9), which established early control with its offensive binge in the bottom of the first.
Golf
William Woods' Houlding,
Hassan pick up NAIA acclaim
Freshman David Houlding and sophomore Myriam Hassan on Wednesday were named the NAIA men's and women's golfers of the week, respectively, for the Owls and Lady Owls.
The national honor was the first of the season for both Houlding and Hassan, who also swept the American Midwest Conference weekly awards Tuesday. Hassan earned the conference recognition for the third time this season, while it was the first for Houlding.
On Tuesday at the AMC Preview in Madison, Ill., junior Julian Taylor captured his fifth individual title of the season with a 7-under par 135 (70-65) and the third-ranked William Woods men won their sixth straight tournament with a 558 total (290-268). Meanwhile, Hassan posted her third victory with an even-par 71 to direct the sixth-ranked William Woods women to a 31-stroke triumph with a 294.
Women's basketball
William Woods adds junior
college transfer from Iowa
Lady Owls head coach Dan Chapla announced earlier this week the signing of guard Babaye Oja, a transfer from Iowa Central Community College.
The 5-foot-6 Oja - a native of Gambela, Ethiopia - helped spark Iowa Central to 51 victories and a NJCAA Region XI title in her two years at the school. She was a two-time all-Region XI selection for the Tritons, receiving first-team honors in 2012-13 and second-team status this past season.
"I've seen her play as a freshman, and I really liked what I saw, so we've been recruiting her hard over the last couple of years, and I'm glad that we got her," Chapla said. "She is an athletic guard who can get to the rim.
"She really does a lot of things well, she can shoot and defend. She is just a really solid overall player."
High school
Track and field
Missouri School for Deaf's Jones
wins three events at Fatima meet
WESTPHALIA - Senior Nick Jones logged victories in the 100 and 200 meters, and long jump to guide the Eagles to a 10th-place finish at the Fatima Blue and Gold Relays on Tuesday.
Jones triumphed in the 100 and 200 with respective times of 11.23 and 22.99 seconds. He won the long jump with a leap of 21 feet even.
Junior high
Gaines guides KCA
at Southern Boone
ASHLAND - Mason Gaines took second place in the 1,600 meters and third in the 800 to pace the Kingdom Christian Academy boys in a meet at Southern Boone on April 18.