The William Woods University baseball team lost to 6th-ranked LSU-Shreveport in the 2011 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round Thursday evening. The Pilots defeated the Owls 10-5. Earlier in the day, the Owls defeated Huntington University (Ind.) 7-1. The tournament is taking place on the campus of Auburn University-Montgomery.
WWU scored three runs in the third inning to take a 3-2 lead. The Owls added two more runs in the fourth inning to push its lead to 5-2. The Pilots struck for seven runs in the fifth inning to retake the lead for good.
Junior Blake Wilson (Cairo, Mo.) went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and a pair of RBI’s. Freshman Matt Thomas (Brashear, Mo.) went 2-for-5 with two runs scored. Senior Stephen Thoenen (Mexico, Mo.) also added two hits in the loss. Freshman Derek Fletcher drove in a pair of runs for the Owls.
Junior Jon Hecht (Frohna, Mo.) took the loss for the Owls. Hecht (3-0) worked four innings, allowed five runs, walked two and struck out five.
Top-seed LSU-Shreveport (43-13) scored 10 runs on 11 hits and committed three errors in the win. Number four seed WWU (35-17) scored five runs on nine hits and committed one error.
The Owls return to action Friday night at 6 pm. They play the winner of the 11 am game between Huntington and Union University.
