FULTON -- For much of the afternoon, it looked as if the milestone victory celebration would have to wait for another day. Still, an extra-innings sendoff highlighted a late comeback as head coach Tracy Gastineau earned her 800th career win for William Woods Sunday.
The Owls (8-14) rallied from a 9-8 Game 1 loss to Missouri Valley (6-14) to win Game 2 5-4 in eight innings.
The Vikings jumped out early in Game 1, scoring three runs in the top of the first. Woods settled in, retiring MVC in order in the second, third, and fourth innings. The Vikings answered with single runs in the second and fourth to cut the lead to 3-2.
Arianna Donovan drove in both Owls runs, plating Iliana Manzano in the second with a single up the middle and looping a single into shallow right to score Jessica Keilholz in the fourth.
Neither team could score in the fifth, but the sixth inning was different. Olivia Bettencourt led off with a single, with Brianna Vela following suit. Quinlyn Keller provided a bit of pinch-hit heroics, catching a lull in the wind just right and connecting on a three-run shot to left center. After a walk and a single for the Vikings, Brooke Lopez came on in relief for Woods. The Owls were eventually able to stem the bleeding, but not before surrendering three more runs to Missouri Valley.
Facing a seven-run deficit, WWU found a way to wake up the bats, with each of the first four hitters connecting. Ella Aguiar threaded the needle to send a single into center field, with Keilholz outsprinting the Vikings' defense with a perfect bunt down the third base line. Manzano rocked a double into right-center to score Aguiar but didn't spend much time on the basepaths as Ally Mahoney sent a three-run shot into the batting cages in left field.
Woods added two more runs in the inning thanks to a Rylee Hagens double and trailed 9-8 heading to the seventh. Brooklynn Spillman turned a spectacular double play to erase a leadoff single, and Manzano collected a routine grounder to end the top of the frame, but unfortunately, the Owls weren't able to find a hole in the bottom of the seventh.
Game 2 also started with a first-inning strike by Missouri Valley, which WWU managed to answer in the bottom of the inning.
The Vikings again hung a three-spot on the board in the top of the second, but Woods answered with a bases-loaded walk in the third and a bases-loaded groundout to third in the fifth inning.
Valley tried to extend its lead in the top of the sixth, but the Owls held strong defensively, stranding two batters in the inning.
The Owls took full advantage of a pair of miscues by the MVC battery to tie the game at 4-4 in the sixth inning. Callie Zarcone was the first beneficiary, beating the play at first after striking out chasing a curve ball that dropped off a cliff and into the dirt, skidding past the catcher to the backstop. Sam Abernathy came on as a pinch runner to Zarcone, then swiped second and took third on a bunt by Sydney Wilbeck. A walk to Spillman left Owls on the corners, with a passed ball allowing Abernathy to score the tying run.
MVC found a way to load the bases in the top of the seventh, but Woods buckled down and got out of the inning, stranding three Vikings.
Woods retired in order in the seventh to send the game into extra innings, but he made quick work of the Vikings in the top of the eighth. Caitlyn Vela started the inning at second as the tiebreaker runner for MVC, and a well-placed sacrifice bunt moved her into scoring position, but Donovan collected a foul pop-up by Bettencourt, and Brianna Vela grounded out to short.
Looking to maximize the chances of scoring, Gastineau sent Madison Leckrone in as a pinch-runner for WWU's tiebreaker runner, but Donovan took Chloe Shuff's first pitch to dead center, giving Leckrone plenty of time to round third and cross the plate for the win.
The win moved Gastineau to an overall record of 800-560 (.588), seventh among active NAIA coaches and ninth all-time. She is within range of Vanguard's Beth Renkoski in eighth, needing 17 wins to move up the all-time list.
William Woods hosts a midweek doubleheader on Tuesday, taking on Culver-Stockton College in a 2 p.m. start.