The 19th-ranked William Woods softball team found itself struggling to manufacture runs against No. 22 Davenport on Monday.
Now it finds itself in a "win or go home" scenario.
The Lady Owls - the No. 2 seed in the Davenport (Mich.) Bracket - left six runners on and scattered four hits in a 4-2 loss to the third-seeded Lady Panthers in NAIA Opening Round competition at Farmers Athletic Complex.
William Woods (39-16) will play No. 4 Huntington (Ind.) Lady Foresters an elimination game at 3 p.m. today. The Lady Forresters (31-22) fell to top-seeded Olivet Nazarene 15-10 in their Opening Round game on Monday.
Davenport (37-8) got a walk from senior center fielder Amber Getty to lead off the bottom of the first inning. Lady Owls senior pitcher MacKenzie Bowden threw a wild pitch that moved Getty to third base then walked junior left fielder Karli Meyers on four pitches.
Lady Panthers junior shortstop KC Dunne opened the scoring with a single to left to drive in Getty and Meyers, who came home after a wild throw by William Woods senior left fielder Lindsey LeCuru.
The Lady Owls - winners of 13 straight games and 22-of-23 coming in - were held hitless until the top of the fourth inning when junior first baseman Kacey Scharnhorst reached on a one-out single to right field with William Woods still trailing 2-0. She was forced out at second when LeCuru reached on a fielder's choice.
A single to left by sophomore designated player Emily Murphy plated LeCuru and trimmed the Lady Owls' deficit in half to 2-1.
Getty sparked Davenport with a one-out double to left on a 3-1 offering from Bowden in the bottom of the fifth. Bowden fanned Meyers for the second out before a Dunne sent Bowden's 2-1 delivery over the fence in center to extend her team's advantage to 4-1.
William Woods junior catcher Macy Wierschem began the top of the seventh by coaxing a 3-2 walk. Freshman second baseman Alexi Cavins and junior third baseman Caroline Sicht each flied out to get the Lady Owls down to their final out.
Sophomore right fielder Sydnae Hatton extended the game with an infield single to move Wierschem to second. Freshman center fielder Hannah Campbell doubled to left center to plate Wierschem and push Hatton to third. Sophomore shortstop Shelby LeCuru - the potential go-ahead run for William Woods - fouled out behind the first base bag to conclude the game.
Bowden (20-8) struck out five in taking the complete-game loss. She gave up four hits, walked three and gave up four runs, three of which were earned.
Campbell, Hatton, Murphy and Scharnhorst all finished 1-for-3.
Lady Panthers freshman starter Emily Maves struck out three and went the distance to pick up the victory. Maves gave up two earned runs and surrendered three walks.
Dunne finished 2-for-3 while Getty and sophomore second baseman Carli SanMillan were 1-for-2 and 1-for-3, respectively.