Willingham's Gem Powers Eagles to AMC Opening Round Win

O'FALLON, Mo. (4/30/23) – Powered by a herculean effort by senior Noah Willingham, the Williams Baptist University baseball team took a victory in the opening round of the American Midwest Conference Tournament over William Woods by the final score of 6-3.

Willingham gutted out nine strong innings for the Eagles, allowing only one earned run on five hits, while fanning 11 Owls hitters.

The Owls got on the board first by cashing in on a lead-off walk in the bottom of the first inning with an RBI single.

WBU tied the affair in the third with a two-out knock from Tyrell Burnett that drove in Tate Isaacs.  An inning later, Nicholas Jones crushed a single off the wall to drive in Jacob Watkins to take a 2-1 lead.

Cody Jones added some insurance in the top of the sixth inning by beating out a soft grounder and forcing a bad throw that drove in two more runs.

Jacob Watkins gave Willingham even more breathing room with a two-run double to right center.

After letting up two unearned runs in the seventh, Willingham dug deep to strike out the side in the eighth and clinch the opening round victory in the ninth.

With the win, Stephen Abanathy ties the record for most wins by a WBU head coach in school history at 148.

WBU will move on to play first-seeded Missouri Baptist at 4 PM from CarShield Field in O'Fallon, Mo.