Taylor Hodges, Sports Information Director

HENDERSON, Tenn. – It took two 4-1 wins, one in extra innings, for the Lions (11-2, 3-0 AMC) to get the sweep over William Woods (7-5, 0-3 AMC) in the season's first AMC series on Saturday.

It took a walk-off bomb from the All-American Josh Sears in the bottom of the 14th inning of game two of the day, three of the series, for the Lions to take the 4-1 win and sweep the Owls.

Catcher Beau Simpson nearly ended it with a home run with one out, but his hit went off the wall in dead center field, giving the Lions a runner in scoring position early on. Hunter Beecham stepped in for him as a pinch runner, and Bryce Lester was able to occupy the open base after drawing a one-out walk.

Isaac Howeth flew out to left field to bring up Sears with two outs. On a 3-1 count, he was able to get a pitch he loved, and he smashed it over the left-center field wall for a no-doubt walk-off home run, his third long ball of the season.

Connor Creasy earned the win in the contest after coming on in relief of Jacob Sawyers in the eighth inning.

Both pitchers went seven complete innings. Sawyers struck out nine batters, and Creasy finished with seven strikeouts without surrendering a hit.

After the Owls took the lead in the top of the sixth inning, Will McCall tied things up with his third home run of the series and season. That score would hold until Sears hit his home run in the 14th.

In game one, Austin Steel got the start on the mound and threw seven strong innings, only giving up one run while striking out five batters. His performance allowed the Lions offense to get to work and score four runs – one in the first and third, and two in the fifth – to get things going on what ended up being along Saturday.

McCall and Dom Pisano each had two RBIs in the win. Pisano went 2-for-3 in the contest, and McCall went 1-for-2 with a walk. Howeth went 2-for-3 with a triple and scored two runs.

The Lions will be at home on Monday when they take on future Mid-South Conference foe Cumberland University at 3 p.m. in a single, nine-inning game.