William Woods’ Logan Lawson struck out eight in a complete-game victory and Matt Thomas and Blake Wilson drove in a pair of runs to lead the Owls to a 7-1 win over Huntington in 2011 NAIA National Championship Opening Round Tournament on Thursday at the AUM Baseball Complex.
With the win, the Owls (35-16) will take on the top seeded LSU Shreveport Pilots at 6 p.m. tonight. The Foresters (22-24) will face the loser of the game between No. 2 seed AUM and No. 3 seed Union on Friday at 11 a.m.
The Foresters jumped on the board first, when Justin Blanock hit his eighth home run of the season in the bottom of the second inning.
William Woods answered with three unearned runs in the top of the sixth inning. The Owls pieced three hits together, and combined with two errors by Huntington, led to the scoring. Thomas delivered a two out RBI hit to cap the scoring.
The Owls added four runs in the eighth inning to provide the final margin. Wilson delivered a two-run single, while Thomas and Adam Wojciechowski also drove in runs in the frame.
Lawson, who scattered just six hits and walked just one, earned the victory, improving to 6-5 on the season. Ethan Tribolet took the loss for Huntington, tossing 7.0 innings and allowing five runs, only two earned, and striking out one.
Branock paced the Foresters’ offense, collecting two hits.
