BATESVILLE, Ark. – Mississippi University for Women's softball team split its St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) doubleheader at Lyon College on Sunday afternoon. The Owls (18-12, 4-4 SLIAC) lost the first game, 5-1, and bounced back to take game two, 6-4, versus the Scots (13-14, 6-5 SLIAC).
 
In the opener, MUW could not solve LC's pitcher McKenzie Campbell, who struck out 11 Owls over the seven innings. The W did not get its first hit until the fifth frame, when Riley Phillips laced a one-out single.
 
Phillips finished the game going 2-for-2, driving 9n her team's lone run in the seventh. Phillips drove in Reagan Newell, who led off the seventh with MUW's only other hit and then stole second.
 
The W starter Avery Byerley lasted 4.2 innings and was charged with all five Scots runs. She struck out two and walked one, falling to 3-4 on the year from the circle.
 
The Owls' bats came alive in game two, building a 6-0 cushion through five innings. The attack was buoyed by a five-run burst in the top of the third, courtesy of a three-run homer by Jessica Deming – her first of 2024 - and a two-run blast by Phillips (her second of the season) in the inning.
 
Newall (2-4) uncorked an RBI double in the fifth that plated Deming. It was Newall's fifth double of the season.
 
Lyon rallied late with two runs each in the sixth and seventh innings, but fell short.
 
Baylee McWilliams improved to 3-3 with the win. McWilliams went 5.0 innings and was charged with two runs, just one earned. She scattered five hits, striking out two and walking two.