Baseball: Struggling Owls swept in series by No. 20 Lyon

BATESVILLE, Ark. - No. 20 Lyon College pushed across two runs in the bottom of the 11th inning to put away the William Woods University Owls in a 10-8 American Midwest Conference win Saturday.

Lyon - which swept the three-game series - improved to 26-7 on the season and 17-2 in the AMC. William Woods, which has lost five straight and six of its last seven, tumbled to 22-13 overall and 10-6 in conference play.

The Owls trailed 8-6, but rallied to force extra innings by scoring single runs in the top of the eighth and ninth innings. William Woods erupted for five runs in the second to take an early lead, but the Scots came right back with four runs in the third to make it a one-run game.

The Owls added a run in the fifth to go up 6-4, but Lyon replied with four more runs in its half of the inning to take the lead.

Junior designated hitter Marquise Doherty went 3-for-6 with a solo home run, a double, four runs batted in and a run scored to power William Woods' 15-hit attack. Freshman third baseman Connor Poulson also finished 3-for-6 with a double and scored twice, while senior first baseman Tyler Cunningham was 2-for-6 with a solo homer, two RBI and a run scored.

Senior shortstop Frankie Valle went 2-for-6 with two RBI and scored once for the Owls. Junior catcher Zach Smith finished 3-for-3 with two doubles and two runs scored.

Junior reliever Jeremy Hidalgo - the last of four William Woods pitchers - suffered the loss. Hidalgo (3-3) allowed two runs - both unearned - on three hits over three innings, walked four and struck out three.

The series with Lyon got off to a rough start after William Woods was swept in Friday's doubleheader. The Scots took the first game 3-2 in eight innings, then blanked the Owls 3-0 in the nightcap.

The opener was scoreless until Lyon put up two runs in the top of the sixth inning. William Woods countered with two runs in its half of the inning on senior right fielder Nolan Aherin's RBI double and Cunningham's RBI sacrifice fly to tie the game at 2-all.

The contest went to extra innings and the Scots manufactured the winning run in the eighth on a leadoff walk, a stolen base and a one-out single.

The Owls were limited to only three hits. In addition to Aherin's double, freshman second baseman Jordan Smith singled to start the third and senior left fielder Patrick Dillon singled with one out in the seventh.

Junior starter Taran Oulton took the loss for William Woods despite a worthy outing. Oulton (5-2) allowed three earned runs on just three hits in seven innings, struck out five and issued four walks.

The Owls bowed in the second game despite out-hitting Lyon 7-5. The Scots scored all three of their runs in the second.

Dillon went 2-for-3 for William Woods, while Aherin and Smith were both 1-for-2. Cunningham, Valle and Doherty were each 1-for-3.

Senior starter Ryan Furtney worked just three innings in suffering his first loss of the season for the Owls. Furtney (5-1) gave up three earned runs on three hits, struck out two and walked two.

William Woods will look to regroup when it hosts AMC rival Columbia College in a doubleheader at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Backer Sports Complex. The Owls defeated the Cougars 8-5 on March 15 in Columbia.