O'FALLON - The Owls were limited to six hits in dropping the opener of their American Midwest Conference series with the Spartans on Thursday at CarShield Field.
The loss was the fourth straight for William Woods University, which slipped to 7-6 on the season and 0-4 in the AMC. Missouri Baptist University is now 4-6 overall and evened its AMC record at 2-2.
The Spartans put up three runs in the bottom of the third inning, tacked on two more in the fourth, one in the fifth and piled on four in the sixth and three in the eighth.
The Owls finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth on sophomore designated hitter Isaiah Gibbs' two-run home run to left with one out.
William Woods logged its other run in the sixth on junior first baseman Easton Wallace's one-out, RBI double to deep left.
Wallace went 2-for-4, while junior second baseman Marcus Gonzalez was also 2-for-4 for the Owls with a triple and a run scored. Gibbs finished 1-for-2 and junior shortstop Jordan Smith went 1-for-3 and scored a run.
William Woods senior starter Tristan Steffens - a Fulton graduate - lasted only three innings in being tagged with the loss. Steffens (3-2) surrendered five runs - three earned - on five hits, struck out three and walked two.
The Owls and the Spartans wrap up their series with a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. today at CarShield Field.