PEARL, Miss. – The W baseball lost a non-conference contest to regional rival Belhaven University on the road, 5-4, at Trustmark Park. It was the second time that the Owls (3-9) have dropped a game to the Blazers (10-5) on their home turf this season.
 
But after losing the previous meeting soundly (12-2), MUW appeared to be on track in Tuesday's rematch, jumping out to a 3-0 lead through three innings and 4-1 after 4 ½. Zach Johnson drove in the Owls' first two runs with an RBI single in the first and a fielder's choice in the third.
 
Loren Cox also had a run-scoring singe in that third frame, plating Matthew Windham to make it 3-0. After Belhaven got one back in its half of the third, it was déjà vu all over again in the fifth, as a Cox ground out to short aga9n drove in Windham to make it 4-1.
 
Starting pitcher Campbell McCluney gave MUW a solid 5.1 innings of work. McCluney allowed three hits, two earned runs, and struck out three before being replaced by Robby Canten with one out in the sixth.
 
The Blazers would get to Canten for a pair of runs in the seventh to knot the game at 4-4. In the eighth, Canten hit the first batter. That was followed by a sacrifice bunt and RBI single for the deciding run, 5-4, after the Owls came up empty in the ninth.
 
The top three in The W batting order – Landon Clark, Windham, and Johnson – collected five of MUW's six hits on the evening. Cox (1-3) in the five hole had the other and walked once.
 
Clark went 2-for-4 with a double and a triple. Clark scored twice and walked once. Windham went 2-for-3 with a walk and a sacrifice. Johnson was 1-for-3 with a pair of walks, two RBI, and a stolen base on his ledger.
 
The W will be off until Saturday, March 22, when it opens St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play at Fontbonne University in St. Louis, Mo.