The William Woods Owls pitching staff turned in a pair of strong outings to open their slate of American Midwest Conference games.
The Owls extended their current winning streak to nine games with an AMC doubleheader sweep of the Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) Lions Thursday on the campus of Harris-Stowe State University.
Four William Woods pitchers combined to limit the Lions to three hits and lift the Owls to a 3-2 victory in the second contest.
Junior starter Caleb Bounds was nearly spotless in three innings of work for William Woods, striking out two and walking one. The Lions tallied a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth inning off of Owls junior reliever Jacob Guillanelli, who was chased away after 2 2/3 innings of work.
Guillanelli struck out four, but was tagged with two earned runs on two hits, while walking three.
The Owls cut their deficit to 2-1 when sophomore second baseman Alex St. Pierre scored on a wild pitch with two outs in the top of the fifth inning.
William Woods plated the winning runs on another Freed-Hardeman miscue. Senior pinch-hitter Dustin Kremer reached base on a Lion fielding error with two outs in the eighth to allow senior right fielder Nick Spagnola and freshman pinch-runner Patrick Dillon to score.
Owls senior reliever Dylan Hastings fanned two batters in 1 1/3 perfect innings to pick up the win. Senior Ryan Yuengel struck out three and gave up a hit in two innings to notch the save.
Spagnola, St. Pierre and senior center fielder Cody Stewart each went 1-for-4 to account for William Woods' three hits.
Owls junior starter John Cavness almost went the distance in vaulting his team to a 5-2 win to open the twinbill.
Cavness threw 6 1/3 innings, striking out five and allowing two earned runs, two hits and four walks.
Junior first baseman Jordan Dey's two-run homer with one out in the top of the first gave William Woods the early edge.
Stewart extended the Owls' advantage to 3-0 with an RBI single with one out in the third, but the Lions logged a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth to draw within a run.
William Woods finished its scoring in the seventh on an RBI single by junior catcher Grant Garrett and a Stewart RBI sacrifice fly.
Senior James Ball registered the two-out save, walking one and striking out a batter.
Dey went 2-for-3 in sparking the Owls to eight hits. Kremer and Stewart each went 1-for-2, Garrett and junior left fielder Larry Price were both 1-for-3, while St. Pierre and Spagnola both finished 1-for-4.
William Woods' will play an AMC doubleheader at Lyon College today. Games will begin at 1 and 3 p.m., respectively. The Owls and Scots will finish up their series with a nine-inning game at 2 p.m. on Monday.