Lady Owls pull off AMC sweep of Missouri Baptist

ST. LOUIS - The William Woods Univrsity Lady Owls needed a dramatic five-run comeback in the top of the seventh inning to pull out a 6-5 victory over Missouri Baptist University in the opener of Tuesday's American Midwest Conference doubleheader.

William Woods University then profited from another big inning - a six-run outburst in the fourth - to fuel its 7-2 victory in the nightcap and a subsequent sweep of Missouri Baptist.

The Lady Owls have now won five in a row, pushing their season record to 25-22 and their AMC mark to 14-8. The pair of losses left the Lady Spartans at 22-14 overall and 13-10 in conference play.

William Woods took a 1-0 lead in the first game on senior first baseman Kacey Scharnhorst's RBI single in the first. Missouri Baptist countered with two runs in its half of the inning, then added two more in the second and one in the fifth to build a 5-1 advantage.

Down to their last three outs, the Lady Owls tallied their first run in the seventh on junior left fielder Sydnae Hatton's RBI single into shallow left with one out. Scharnhorst followed by lining a double up the middle to score senior second baseman Sam Parsons and sophomore center fielder Hannah Campbell, trimming William Woods' deficit to 5-4.

Then with two outs, senior third baseman Caroline Sicht's single through the right side brought home Hatton to tie the game. Scharnhorst also scored on the play to put the Lady Owls in front to stay.

Scharnhorst was 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored to direct William Woods' eight-hit attack. Parsons finished 2-for-3 and scored once, Hatton went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, and Sicht was 1-for-4 with an RBI.

Freshman starter Allison Waskow went the distance to earn the victory for the Lady Owls. Waskow (10-11) surrendered five runs - four earned - on six hits, struck out seven and walked three.

William Woods trailed 1-0 in the nightcap when it took control with its six-run uprising in the fourth, all of the scoring coming with two outs. Junior shortstop Shelby LeCuru tied the game with an RBI single to center, then senior catcher Macy Wierschem put the Lady Owls on top 3-1 with a two-run double to center.

Wierschem came around to score on Parsons' double to left-center and Parsons made it 5-1 when she scored on a Missouri Baptist error. Campbell accounted for William Woods' final run in the inning when she dashed home on Hatton's bunt single.

The Lady Owls tacked on their last run in the fifth when sophomore designated player Beth Begemann scored on an error.

Begemann went 3-for-3 with a double and scored twice as William Woods logged nine hits. Wierschem was also 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored, while Parsons finished 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Campbell went 1-for-4 with an RBI and scored once.

Freshman starter Bre Logan turned in a complete-game effort to record the win for the Lady Owls. Logan (10-8) gave up two earned runs on seven hits, issued five walks and struck out three.

William Woods ends the regular season with an AMC doubleheader at St. Louis College of Pharmacy at 2 p.m. today.