STEENS, Miss. – The duo of
Tyler Temple and
Landon Clark had record-setting efforts in pitching Mississippi University for Women's baseball team to a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) doubleheader sweep of Blackburn College at CCA Field. The Owls (12-7, 4-2 SLIAC) defeated the Beavers (3-16, 0-6 SLIAC) by scores of 10-6 and 6-0 in the nightcap.
The game No. 2 combined shutout by The W was the first for the program in more than three full seasons and the fifth in program history. Prior to Saturday, the last time MUW hurlers blanked an opponent was on March 12, 2021 in a 15-0 win over Rust College.
The tandem of Temple and Clark proved to be too much for the Blackburn batters in the SLIAC twinbill. Temple (2-0 record), the game one starter, went 8.0 innings and tied the MUW single-game strikeout record with 11 Ks (accomplished twice before in the program's brief history). Temple scattered five hits and allowed just two unearned runs and did not walk a batter.
But the senior Temple did not get to enjoy his time at the top of the game-strikeouts leaderboard very long. That's because, in game two, his teammate Clark would make his own assault on the record with a 12-strikeout performance versus the Beavers. Like Temple, Clark (2-0 record) did not walk a batter in his 8.0 shutout innings, permitting just four singles to the visitors.
In the first game Clark, playing first base for MUW, helped out Temple from the plate by going 3-for-4, with three runs scored and three runs batted in. Among Clark's hits was a two-run double in the first and a solo home run (No. 3 this season) in the sixth.
Austin Telano (2-4, 2 runs),
Zack Egan (2-5), and
Griffin Fuller (2-4) all joined Clark with multi-hit games. Telano, Fuller,
Baker Watson (1-4), and
Baron Brack (1-4) each slapped doubles, as well. Catcher
Avery Benson (1-4) legged out a triple, as The W amassed a total of seven extra-base hits in the game.
Game two was "death-by-a-thousand-cuts" for the Beavers, as MUW amassed 10 hits – all singles – in the victory (all five of the Beavers' hits were singles, as well) and patiently drew five walks. Sophomore
Matthew Windham led the way with a 3-for-4 game, with two runs scored and one RBI.
Shortstop
Tyler Estabrook had the other multi-hit game for MUW, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Telano was 1-for-3, with a pair of walks, but amassed three "ribbies."
"I was extremely excited about our effort today as a team," MUW head coach
Scott Mularz said. "Our pitchers did a great job of staying in the zone. The hitters did a great job of grinding out the day and finding a way to manufacture runs."
