Story by William Woods Athletics

COLUMBUS, Ga.— The No. 19-ranked William Woods (Mo.) softball split day one action at the NFCA Leadoff Classic on Friday, as the team cruised past Ave Maria (Fla.) 10-0 in game one, but fell to No. 11-ranked Belhaven (Ala.) in the nightcap, 3-1.

With the victory over Ave Maria, head coach Tracy Gastineau has become the program's all-time leader in wins, as she has now totaled 595 in her illustrious career at the helm of the softball program. She was able to surpass fellow William Woods University Hall of Famer Roger Ternes, who earned 594 victories.

"Most of all it was a great team win and I will remember that most," Gastineau said. "You don't get into coaching thinking about wins, but every coach is a competitor and that's who we are. To put my name there though, it's a special thing for me, but it's over with now and we can focus on rest of the season."

She added, "If there was anyone I want to share WWU softball with its coach Ternes, as he was at the top of my list for all the things he did at WWU and to be put in same category with him is pretty special."

No. 19 William Woods 10 Ave Maria University 0
After a scoreless three innings, the Owls (3-5) would find its way onto the scoreboard in the top of the fourth inning, as Emily Murphy led the inning off with a walk.

She was able to advance to second base after senior Kacey Scharnhorst laid down a sacrifice bunt and then senior Caroline Sicht came to the dish and hit her first home run on the season, over the centerfield wall, to give the Owls a 2-0 advantage.

That was more than enough for starter and reigning American Midwest Conference (AMC) Pitcher of the Week, Bre Logan, as the freshman hurled her second complete game, allowing no runs on five hits and struck out three batters.

In the top of the fifth, the offense broke the game wide open, as they scored four runs on two hits and were helped out by two Ave Maria (6-10) errors.

After a leadoff walk to Shelby LeCuru and Hannah Campbell reaching base due to a throwing error after her sacrifice bunt, the Owls had runners at first and third with nobody out. Pinch-hitter Beth Begemann came to the dish and earned herself a walk, which loaded up the bases for Macy Wierschem, and she was able to rip the ball down the right field line, scoring LeCuru and Campbell to give WWU a 4-0 lead.

After a fly-out, Scharnhorst kept the inning going with a single up the middle, scoring Sydnae Hatton, to make it 5-0. The team would tally on one more run, as Wierschem was able to score on a wild pitch, which extended the teams' advantage to six runs.

"Beth (Begemann) had a really critical pinch-hit at-bat," said Gastineau. "She came up in a key situation, fouled off a few pitches and earned a walk for us and to me that walk was the reason we broke the inning open."

The scoring frenzy continued into the top of the sixth, as Hatton reached base on a one out bunt single. Then, a stolen base by Hatton, a walk to Wierschem and a single by Murphy, loaded the bases up for Scharnhorst and the senior was able to single up the middle, scoring Hatton, to push the lead to 7-0 after six innings of play.

The Owls would go on to tally three more runs in the top of the seventh, as pinch-hitter Julie Scheer singled up the middle to score Hatton and Campbell, who both reached base on Gyrenes defensive errors.

Two batters later, Scharnhorst would tally her second RBI in the game, as she singled to left field, scoring Scheer and make it a final 10-run victory for the Owls.

WWU totaled nine hits in the game, with Hatton, Murphy, and Scharnhorst, each going 2-for-4 at the dish, while Hatton led the way with a team-high three runs scored. Scharnhorst, meanwhile, was one of four Owls to total two RBI in the outing, as Wierschem, Scheer and Sicht also contributed in the RBI department.

No. 11 Belhaven University 3 No. 19 William Woods University 1
In a matchup of two top 20 teams in game two, the Owls were able to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning against the Blazers (7-3), as Sicht hit her second home run of the day, this one a solo shot, over the center field wall.

The Blazers, however, would respond in the top of the third, as Carly Yasses would hit a solo home run of her own over the left field wall against Owls hurler Allison Waskow, to tie the game up at 1-1.

That score would remain the same until the top of the sixth, as Josie Porter led the inning off with a single for Belhaven. Waskow was able to get the next two batters on a fly-out and a strikeout, but was unable to retire Emily Todd, who hit a two run homer over the centerfield wall and gave the Blazers a 3-1 lead.

The Owls were unable to put together a late rally the final two innings of play and unfortunately suffered a tough two run defeat.

Waskow, who pitched very well, suffered the loss, as she hurled 7.0 innings of six hit ball, allowing three runs and striking out five batters. Jordan Herring for Belhaven, however, was able to control a hot-hitting Owls offense, as she allowed one run on four hits and struck out five in the complete game win.

Sicht led WWU at the plate, going 2-for-3 with one run scored and one RBI. LeCuru and Madison McCormick were the other two players to collect one hit.

"We played Woods softball today," Gastineau said. "First game was a great team win, while in the second outing, we had flashes of what we are capable of, but we didn't finish. Both Bre and Allison pitched much better today and our defense had signs of what we can do."

She added, "I felt like we made progress today as a team and that is what we are looking for as we get ready for conference play."

The team will return to action tomorrow morning, as they will take on (RV) Corban University. First-pitch will be thrown at 11:30 a.m. CT.

Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and scores from Georgia.