One strike away from victory, the No. 3 seed Owls now find themselves on the edge of elimination after a 3-2 NAIA Opening Round loss to the No. 2 Bruins in the Bellevue Bracket on Tuesday at Roddy Field.
William Woods University (38-13) plays the No. 4 seed Madonna (Michigan) University Crusaders at 11 this morning in an elimination game. The Crusaders (37-16) were clipped by No. 5 seed Mayville State (North Dakota) 6-1 in their NAIA opener Tuesday.
Senior starter John Cavness worked eight scoreless innings as William Woods led 2-0 in the top of the ninth. Cavness struck out Bellevue catcher Osvaldo Gonzalez to start the inning, then allowed a one-out single to right fielder Colton Nash.
Cavness followed with a strikeout of left fielder Gabriel De La Rosa, but a single by designated hitter Aaron Brashner extended the game for the Bruins.
Senior James Ball, relieving Cavness, had Bellevue down to its final strike before first baseman Todd Nicks hammered a three-run home run to left on a 1-2 count gave Bellevue the 3-2 edge.
William Woods senior center fielder Cody Stewart quickly put the tying run in ideal scoring position with a leadoff triple to right in the bottom of the ninth. Senior designated hitter Dustin Kremer followed by lining out to third and Bruins starter Steve Sarcone struck out senior third baseman Austin Clapp to get the Owls down to their final out.
Sarcone intentionally walked William Woods senior shortstop Stephen Kohler, before striking out junior right fielder Jordan Dey to end the game.
Kremer singled home Stewart with two outs in the first to give the Owls the early lead. Stewart then reached on an error in the third, with freshman pinch-runner Patrick Dillon racing home to make it 2-0.
Junior catcher Grant Garrett finished 2-for-3 as the Owls managed only five hits. Kremer was 2-for-4 and Stewart went 1-for-4 with an RBI.
Ball allowed an earned run on one hit and struck out one in a third of an inning to take the loss.
Brasher and Nash were both 2-for-4 for Bellevue (45-13). Sarcone struck out 10, walked one and allowed two unearned runs in a complete-game effort.
Meanwhile, Stewart picked up first-team, Capital One Academic All-District 3 honors and collected first-team, all-American Midwest Conference recognition along with Cavness and Ball.
Stewart posted team highs in batting average (.381) and RBI (50), while registering 64 hits and scoring 36 runs.
Cavness (7-1) logged a 3.06 earned-run average and struck out a career-high 59 batters in 70 2/3 innings to claim first-team all-AMC recognition for the first time in his career.
Ball (8-4) set career highs in wins, strikeouts (75) and innings pitched (69 2/3) in being named a first-team, all-AMC utility pitcher for a second straight season.
Kremer and Clapp were among the Owls' eight honorable-mention, all-conference recipients. They were joined by senior pitchers Dylan Hastings and Ryan Yuengel, senior outfielder Nick Spagnola, senior infielder Javier Ledesma, junior outfielder Larry Price and sophomore infielder Alex St. Pierre.