The William Woods University Owls baseball team is moving in the wrong direction.
William Woods combined for just 12 hits in being swept in Wednesday's non-conference doubleheader by College of the Ozarks at Owl Field. The Owls bowed in the first game 10-4 and then dropped the nightcap 5-3.
The loss was the third in a row and sixth in the last seven games for William Woods, which fell to 21-26 on the season.
Ozarks scored a run in the first in the opener to take the lead, but William Woods tied the game at 1-all in its half of the inning on senior second baseman Ryan Phillips' RBI single. The Bobcats, though, went in front to stay with four runs in the third and then tacked on one in the fourth, two in the fifth and one each in the sixth and seventh.
The Owls put up their other three runs in the sixth on junior pinch-hitter Patrick Dillon's two-run double and senior pinch-hitter Matt Priest's RBI groundout.
Junior first baseman Tyler Cunningham finished 3-for-4 with a double and scored twice as William Woods totalled seven hits. Phillips went 2-for-3.
Junior starter Dany Paradis-Giroux took the loss for the Owls, surrendering eight runs - only five earned - on nine hits in 4 2/3 innings. Paradis-Giroux (3-4) struck out four and issued two walks.
William Woods committed four errors.
Ozarks (25-18) produced two runs in the first in the second game, but the Owls got a run back in the bottom of the inning. Junior right fielder Nolan Aherin led off with a double to deep left-center and eventually scored on an error by the Bobcats.
Ozarks added single runs in the third and fifth, but William Woods crept within 4-3 by tallying two runs in the sixth. Aherin had a leadoff single and later scored on another error, while Phillips drove in the other run with a one-out sacrifice fly.
The Bobcats, though, manufactured a critical run in the seventh to close out the victory.
Aherin was 2-for-3 as the Owls were limited to five hits, while senior second baseman Alex St. Pierre finished 1-for-4 and scored a run. Senior catcher Konrad Kemper - a South Callaway graduate - went 1-for-1 and Phillips was 1-for-2.
Freshman starter Adam Lafferty - the first of five William Woods pitchers - was pinned with the loss. Lafferty (0-1) worked only three innings, giving up three runs - two earned - on three hits, striking out one and walking one.
The Owls travel to Hannibal-LaGrange University for the start of an American Midwest Conference series with a single game at 1 p.m. Friday. The two teams will then play a doubleheader at noon Saturday.