The Mississippi University for Women baseball team is still alive in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament after defeating Westminster College on Friday. It was an elimination game following an 18-4 defeat to No. 3 seed Spalding University on Thursday.
The first game turned into a bit of a shootout in the first few innings, as the Owls trailed 5-4 after the first three innings, but Spalding opened up the game down the stretch after a seven-run showing in the sixth inning. The W bullpen went to work to try and stop the bleeding, but in the end, the staff surrendered 18 earned runs on 16 hits to the potent Blue Jays offense.
The Owls, 20-16, matched up with Westminster College on Friday after the loss to Spalding, a team with which they split their season finale last weekend. All-SLIAC ace Landon Clark got the start and pitched a complete game, throwing 139 pitches in a must-win contest, striking out seven batters and allowing just one run, coming in the first inning.
The Owls got on the board in the fifth inning with RBI hits from All-SLIAC hitters Zach Johnson and Avery Benson.
The Owls left six runners on base from nine hits and one walk. However, they dealt well with Westminster defensively, stranding 10 runners and backing up Clark after walks put runners in scoring position.
Clark was tested in the ninth after Westminster loaded the bases while the Owls held a two-run lead. He responded with a strikeout and then got the next hitter to roll over on a simple ground ball to second base. The out at first sealed the 3-1 win and kept the Owls alive for another round in O’Fallon.
The Owls will face Webster in the final game of the elimination round. The winner of that game advances to the SLIAC championship round of this double-elimination tournament.
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