The William Woods University Owls' hunt for an American Midwest Conference regular-season title stayed alive thanks to a pair of closely-contested wins.
William Woods swept Benedictine University-Springfield (Illinois) on Friday, winning the nightcap 5-2 after registering a 4-3, 10-inning triumph in the opener at Backer Sports Complex.
The Owls (30-9, 15-6 AMC) have won five straight, while remaining locked in a three-way tie with Lyon (Arkansas) College and Missouri Baptist University for second place in the AMC.
A sacrifice fly by senior designated hitter Dustin Kremer in the bottom of the first inning drove in William Woods' first run in the second game. Senior third baseman Austin Clapp followed up by singling home senior center fielder Cody Stewart to make it 2-0.
Kremer struck again with an RBI double to left to kick off the Owls' three-run third. Clapp plated Stewart with a sacrifice fly, while senior shortstop Stephen Kohler's RBI single brought home Kremer.
Benedictine (15-21, 11-10 AMC) scored once in the fourth and logged its other run in the sixth.
Stewart was 2-for-3 with a double, while junior second baseman Larry Price also went 2-for-3 as William Woods accumulated 10 hits. Kremer and Clapp were both 1-for-2.
Senior reliever Ryan Yuengel allowed an earned run on two hits in 2 1/3 innings to pick up the win for the Owls. Yuengel (6-0) struck out four and walked two.
Senior James Ball retired the final batter for the Bulldogs on two pitches to pick up his sixth save of the season.
Senior right fielder Nick Spagnola's RBI single in the bottom of the 10th punctuated his 5-for-6 day at the plate in William Woods' extra-inning victory in the first game.
Spagnola's hit drove in freshman pinch-runner Drew May with the decisive run as the Owls clawed their way back from a 3-0 deficit. Stewart singled in a run in the sixth, then scored himself on an error to draw William Woods within 3-2.
Kremer's sacrifice fly in the eighth squared the game at 3-all to force extra innings. Senior Dylan Hastings relieved Ball, holding Benedictine scoreless over the final 2 2/3 innings to grab the win.
Hastings (5-0) struck out five and yielded just one hit.
Spagnola scored a run and stole three bases for the Owls. Stewart went 3-for-4 with a triple, an RBI and a run scored, while Kohler finished 2-for-3 as William Woods out-hit the Bulldogs 13-9.
The Owls finished the series with Benedictine with a single game on Saturday. Results were not available at press time. William Woods hosts Park University in an AMC contest at 2 p.m. today.