William Woods University's lineup came out of the gate quickly in extending the Owls' quest for an American Midwest Conference Tournament championship.
No. 3 William Woods cranked out 14 hits on its way to ousting No. 8 Williams Baptist (Arkansas) College 9-5 in an elimination game on Saturday afternoon.
William Woods (37-11) was set to play another elimination game against either top-seeded Freed-Hardeman (Tennessee) University or No. 6 Lindenwood-Belleville (Illinois) on Saturday night. Results were not available at press time.
Senior center fielder Cody Stewart's one-out single scored senior right fielder Nick Spagnola in the bottom of the first inning against Williams Baptist. Junior first baseman Jordan Dey slugged a leadoff homer in the second and Spagnola's groundout to third drove in junior left fielder Larry Price to make it 3-0.
William Woods broke the game open with five runs on six hits in the fourth. Stewart, senior third baseman Austin Clapp and senior second baseman Javier Ledesma each had RBI singles, while senior designated hitter Dustin Kremer and senior shortstop Stephen Kohler both drove in runs with a sacrifice fly and a sacrifice bunt, respectively.
The Eagles scored once in the fifth, then drew within 8-4 with three runs in the sixth. Clapp singled home Spagnola in the eighth, while Williams Baptist added its final tally in the ninth.
Clapp led William Woods' five multi-hit players by going 3-for-4 with a run scored. Spagnola finished 2-for-3, while Ledesma, Stewart and Price were each 2-for-4.
Senior starter Adam Brush tossed 5 2/3 innings to record the victory. Brush allowed four earned on four hits, struck out two and walked one.
The Owls' 10-6 hitting advantage couldn't lift them in a 4-3 loss to the No. 2 seed Lyon (Arkansas) College Scots in second-round play Friday night.
Lyon opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second. Price hit an RBI single with one out in the fifth, then scored the tying run on Kremer's two-out single later in the inning.
First baseman Joseph Sitzman supplied the decisive runs for the Scots on a one-out, two-run triple to left in the eighth. Dey scored William Woods' final run when Price reached on a throwing error in the ninth.
Dey and Stewart were both 2-for-4 for the Owls, while Price and Spagnola each went 2-for-5. Kremer and Ledesma both finished 1-for-4.
Senior James Ball tossed two innings of relief in taking the loss. Ball allowed two earned runs on three hits, struck out three and walked two.