ELSAH, Ill. – It was a tale of two teams heading in opposite directions when the Mississippi University for Women's baseball team pummeled Principia College in a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (SLIAC) doubleheader, 17-8 and 19-2, on Saturday. The Owls (20-10, 10-4 SLIAC) reached the coveted 20-win plateau for just the third time in the program's history with the sweep of the Panthers (6-26, 0-14 SLIAC).
MUW also got closer to earning the No. 2 position for the SLIAC tournament. The W currently has a 1 ½ game lead for the second-seed with four SLIAC bouts yet to play. The W needs just one more win to lock up a berth in the six-team SLIAC post-season tourney, also targeting the advantageous first-round bye that goes to the top-two seeds. MUW still has two games at Westminster College (currently ½ game out of a playoff spot at No. 7 in the SLIAC) and a home twinbill with Fontbonne University, the current No. 5 seed, on May 4 at CCA Field.
On Saturday, however, the Owls flexed their muscles versus a SLIAC cellar-dwelling Principia College squad that is winless in league games this season. And the disparity showed early on as The W rolled up 36 runs and 33 hits in the doubleheader. The 36 runs were the most runs scored by MUW in a doubleheader (the previous best was 31 in a sweep at Southeastern Baptist College on February 22, 2021).
In game one, catcher
Avery Benson went 4-for-5, slugging a pair of home runs to give him a team-leading eight roundtrippers in 2024. He scored four and collected four runs batted in.
Designated hitter
Landon Clark – who also leads the team on the mound – helped out with the bat in game one with a 3-for-5 game, lacing two doubles and belting his fourth homer. Clark also scored four runs and drove in four, as well.
Tyler Estabrook (3-5) and
Zack Egan (2-5) also had multi-hit games for the Owls. Each scored once and Estabrook had an RBI.
Johnny Setchfield (1-5) had MUW's fourth home run of the game, a two-run shot in the fifth inning.
Tyler Temple improved to 6-0 on the season in his sixth start and 10th appearance, overall. Temple went 5.0 innings, giving up 10 hits and seven earned runs. He struck out four and walked one.
In the second game, The W bats did plenty, but it wasn't needed as Clark threw 6.0 dominating innings to improve his personal record to 4-0 on the year. Clark gave up just one hit, zero runs, struck out seven and walked none, leaving the game – shortened to seven innings by the run rule - staked to a 15-0 lead.
Setchfield (2-4) smacked his seventh homer of the season in the blowout, finishing with three RBI. Clark helped his own cause with the bat, going 3-for-5, driving in three, scoring three, and drawing a walk.
Baron Brack (2-4), Estabrook (2-4), and Egan (2-2) all had multiple hits, as well.
Estabrook drove in three runs.
Austin Telano (1-2),
Cole Evans (1-4), and Egan each drove in a pair of runs. Telano and Evans each had a double in The W's 17-hit attack.
