MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Playing a morning-evening pair of games, the Mississippi University for Women baseball team saw its rallies in both contests come up short. In the Huntingdon Hawks Tournament, the Owls lost their morning bout to Castleton University, 5-4, and then fell to host Huntingdon, 12-10, in the nightcap.
In the first game of the day versus the Spartans of Castleton, MUW saw its ninth-inning rally come up just short. The Owls entered their final at-bats down 5-0 and the first two Owls were quickly retired. That's when things got interesting.
Zack Egan (2-4) singled to center,
Tyler Estabrook (0-4) drew a walk and
Tanner Evans (1-4) slapped a single to left to load the bases. That also forced a Spartan pitching change as Joseph Voli took over for starter Nicholas Griffin on the hill.
But Voli had trouble finding the strike zone. And the selective Owls' batters took full advantage, with
Austin Telano (1-3) and
Avery Benson (1-3) drawing back-to-back bases-loaded walks that cut the deficit to 5-2.
MUW Head Coach
Scott Mularz then sent pinch-hitter
Josh Mackey (1-1) to the plate. And the freshman from Huntsville, Ala., delivered with a two-run double, drawing the Owls to within a single run and putting both the potential tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. But CU was able to retire
Matthew Windham (1-5, 2B) and cut off the MUW rally.
MUW starter
Campbell McCluney (0-3) pitched well during his 5.0 inning stint, but was unable to get his first win as an Owl. McCluney gave up just two hits and two walks, while striking out six Spartan batters. He was charged with three runs, just two of which were earned.
Versus Huntingdon, the Owls actually mounted two comebacks. Down 3-1 after three full innings, The W plated six runs in the top of the fourth to lead, 7-3. The inning featured a two-run single by Telano, along with an RBI single from Benson.
But that was short-lived, as the Hawks answered with nine runs in their half of the fourth to again put MUW behind the proverbial eight ball, 12-7.
In the top of the sixth, MUW clawed back again. Benson had another run-scoring single, driving in Evans. Windham then slugged his first collegiate home run, a powerful, two-run blast to left that made the score, 12-10.
The W was a victim of its own pitching struggles early in the setback. In all, four Owls' hurlers issued a school-record 15 walks to the Hawks (14 of which came in the first five innings alone).
Tyler Temple, the last of the pitching quartet, walked one in 3.0 innings of work.
Brandon Fenimore (0-1), the second man to the mound for the Owls, took the loss
The W's number 2 through 4 batters – Evans (2-5), Telano (3-5), and Benson (2-4) – had seven of the team's nine total hits. Windham (2-5) had the other two in the No. 6 slot.
