COLUMBUS, Miss. – After a tough start, the Mississippi University for Women's baseball team rallied to score nine runs in seventh inning to defeat Crowley's Ridge College 14-13 in the final game of the series. The Owls improve to 3-3 on the season and complete the sweep in the home opener series.

The W started the game down, entering the bottom of the third behind the Pioneers 9-0. The Owls collected their first run of the game in the inning with Will Peters running home on a wild pitch.

Crowley's Ridge widened the scoring gap in the top of the fourth with four additional runs in the top of the fourth but the Owls answered with three runs of their own in the bottom.

With two men on base, Prince Tolbert made it to first on a fielder's choice and a throwing error by the pitcher and a throwing error by the left fielder pushed him to third and allowed David Standifer and Brandon Jones to score a run each. To end fourth inning scoring and put the score at 13-4, Will Peters stepped to plate and singled to right field to send Tolbert home and collect the RBI.

The Owls continued to fight and worked hard defensively to prevent additional runs by the Pioneers. They did not give up offensively and went on a scoring run to bounce back.

In the fifth, Tolbert singled for an RBI and Jones's second run of the game to close Crowley's Ridge lead to 13-5.

With bases loaded in the seventh inning, the Owls scored a string of runs to take their first lead of the game. Heath Ford walked for the RBI to send Jones home for his third run of the game. Jackson Norris-Jones and Damain Benefield were hit by pitches to bring Tolbert and Peters home and RJ Cox singled to left field to bring Heath Ford home. Brandon Jones made his way back to plate for the second time in the inning to single and advance to second base on a throwing error by the second baseman. With the single and the errors, the bases were almost cleared with Trey Petite, Cox, and Austin Woods scoring runs in the play. For the final run of the game and to seal the win for the Owls, Standifer sent a sacrifice fly to right field to allow Brandon Jones to score and to put The W ahead 14-13.

For his first win of the season, Eiland Cleckler entered the game in fifth to pitch 5.0 innings for three hit against, no runs, two walks, and four strikeouts.  

At the plate, Brandon Jones went 2-for-2 for four runs and one RBI and Prince Tolbert went 2-for-5 with two runs and three RBIs.

Other standout players are Will Peters with two hits, two runs, and one RBI and David Standifer with two hits, one run, and one RBI.

UP NEXT
The Owls will look to continue their winning streak when they take on Rust College on Wednesday. Feb. 21. The doubleheader action is set to begin at 3 p.m. at the Columbus High School Baseball Field.

To keep up with The W baseball and the rest of Owls athletics, visit OwlsAthletics.com and follow the Owls social media pages at The W Athletics on Facebook and @thewathletics on Instagram and Twitter. Show your support for your favorite team by using the #WinEveryDay and #GoOwls.