LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ga. – For the second time in as many days on the road, the Mississippi University for Women softball team split a doubleheader, this time at Covenant College. The Owls (16-18) lost the opener to the Scots (11-19), 12-4, before bouncing back to take the nightcap, 6-1.
In the first contest of the day, it was The W that scored first. But it ended up being Covenant that scored most often.
With one out in the top of the first,
Emilee Slade was hit by a pitch and stole second. After the second out was recorded,
Alysa Newman slapped a single through the left side of the infield that plated Slade with the game's first run. That brought up
Madison Crosby, who promptly deposited a double to right field, driving in Newman to make it 2-0.
The Scots replied with four runs of their own off of starter
Bailey McClellan in their half of the first. In all, McClellan would allow eight hits and six runs, just three of which were earned, before giving way to
Avery Byerley in the fourth.
Byerley, in 1.1 innings, had similar results to McClellan, as she was tagged with six runs, and just three earned, after Owl miscues.
The MUW batters did manage to briefly tie the game in the top of the fourth. A single run on a double steal allowed
Makalyn Cowley to score the team's third run. Then in the fourth, a
Rylie Grisham RBI double knotted matters at 4-4, before Covenant rallied for five in the fourth and three more in the fifth to end the game on the run rule.
Grisham (2-3) and Newman (2-2) accounted for four of the Owls five hits as a team.
In the second game, Grisham was dominating in the circle, registering her team-leading sixth complete-game of the season. She scattered nine hits and gave up just one run in the second inning. Grisham struck out five Scots and did not walk a batter, as she improved her personal record to 8-6 on the year.
MUW again struck early with three first-inning runs. Crosby drew a bases-loaded walk, followed by a pair of unearned runs by way of a Scots' error.
In the Owls' second inning,
Riley Phillips had an RBI single and, eventually, scored herself on another Scots' error[u1] .
Maiya Joe's infield single in the seventh drove in pinch-runner
Lilly Harrison with The W's final run of the game.
The top half of the MUW lineup did the bulk of the damage from the plate. The Owls' Nos. 1-5 batters – Deming (2-4), Phillips (2-4), Grisham (1-4), Newman (2-3), and Crosby (1-3) – accounted for eight of The W's nine hits in the contest. Deming, Newman, and Crosby all had doubles.
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