MILLINGTON, Tenn. – Offense was the order of the day, as Mississippi University for Women baseball split its first-ever St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) games versus Lyon College at the USA Park complex. The Owls (9-6, 1-1 SLIAC) lost the opener, 9-7, in 10 innings and came back to take the night cap, 18-15, in the day-long drizzly conditions outside of Memphis.
In game one, MUW jumped out to the early 4-0 lead, but could not hold on. In the bottom of the second,
Zack Egan's (1-5) RBI single and a
Johnny Setchfield (1-3) sacrifice fly but The W on top, 2-0. Then in the third, junior transfer
Baron Brack (1-5) ripped his second home run of the season – a two-run shot – that extended MUW's advantage to 4-0.
Lyon turned the game around with six unanswered runs over the next five frames to lead 6-4.
But the Owls never gave in and battled back to force extra innings. With two out and two on in the bottom of the ninth,
Tyler Estabrook (1-4) slapped a single to center that scored Egan and advanced pinch-runner
Griffin Fuller to third. With
Baker Watson (0-4) at the plated, the Scots (5-13, 1-1 SLIAC) were called for a balk that brought home Fuller to make it 6-6.
In the top of the 10th inning, two walks, two hit batters and a single paved the way for Lyon to tally three runs, 9-7.
In its at-bats in the 10th, the first two Owls were retired.
Austin Telano then walked and went to second on
Avery Benson's (4-5) single.
Landon Clark (3-5) delivered an RBI single to center with Benson stopping at second.
That brought the potential winning run to the plate in the form of Egan. But the sophomore ground out to third base, for the force, to end the game.
Relief pitcher
Connor Reilly (0-1) absorbed the loss, allowing three runs (just one earned) in 2.1 innings of work. Starter
Tyler Temple went 6.2 innings, allowing seven hits and four earned runs, with a no-decision.
Jackson Gantt threw the ninth for MUW.
In game two, it seemed by the scoreboard that a football game broke out with both teams scoring deep in double digits. The squads combined for 33 runs and 33 hits (19 by MUW).
The constant drizzle also made for some unique situations by the second game, with several players losing their footing on the slippery artificial surface or having trouble griping the damp baseball, likely contributing to the inflated score.
MUW scored in each of the first four innings to go ahead by a 10-1 margin. But an eight-run sixth by the Scots made it a one-run game. The Owls added one in their half of the sixth, and another in the seventh, to push it to 12-9.
In the top of the eighth, Lyon exploded for six more runs and seemed to have delivered a knock-out punch, 15-12. But the never-say-die MUW squad rallied once again.
The bottom of the eighth started with Watson hit by a pitch, followed by singles from Windham and Brack to load the bases. With none out, Telano double to left-centerfield to drive in two runs and put the tying run at third. Benson grounded to back o the pitcher, who was able to get Brack in a rundown at third, as Telano alertly went to third.
Egan then laid down a perfect squeeze bunt that plated Telano to knot the game at 15-15. MUW added the go-ahead run on a fielding error. A bases-loaded single by Watson pushed across two more insurance runs, 18-15, before the third out was recorded.
Needing to retire the side in the top of the ninth, MUW reliever
Robby Canten walked the bases loaded to male things interesting, before registering the final out and earn the win. Canten threw 2.0 innings, as the fourth Owls hurler of the evening, to improve his personal record to 1-1.
MUW starter Clark went 5.0 innings, allowing four hits and just one run. Clark struck out five Scots and walked one, but did not figure in the decision.
The offense was led by Windham at 4-for-7 with a run scored and three RBI. Estabrook went 3-for-5, scored twice and drove in four runs. Telano produced a 3-for-4 game, scoring four and driving in two. Brack (2-6),
Cole Evans (2-3), Setchfield (2-4) and Watson (2-4, 3 RBI) all had multi-hit games, as well.
Windham's seven AB's and Telano's four runs scored tied MUW single-game records. The five Owls hit by a pitch also matched a team game mark, accomplished twice before (both in 2019).
