MUW baseball’s scorching-hot six-game winning streak cooled over the weekend at the TIG Tournament in Tucson, Arizona, where the Owls were defeated in three straight games.
The team opened tournament play with a Friday doubleheader against Aurora University and dropped the first game, 6-3, in seven innings.
The Spartans piled on three runs in the second and three more in the fourth while the Owls (9-8) tacked on two in the third and one in the fourth. Matthew Windham and Baron Brack both had two hits, and Windham also had one of the team’s three RBI. Campbell McCluney took the loss on the mound. He pitched five innings and gave up 11 hits, six earned runs and walked three and fanned three more. Will Carter closed the final two innings and gave up two hits with one walk and two strikeouts.
In the second game, MUW’s offense went cold in a 10-1 loss. Aurora pitcher Drew Piaskowy kept the Owls at bay through six innings as he fanned four, walked four and only gave up five hits and one earned run. Meanwhile, the Trojans’ offense broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fifth with four runs and erupted for five more in the sixth to close out the game. The Owls, who were outhit 14-6, got two hits each from Jay Marbutt and Jack Sledge, and Marbutt had the team’s lone RBI.
The team closed its trip to Arizona on Saturday with an 18-8 run-rule loss to No. 13-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scipps Colleges. The Stags, who outhit MUW 21-9, brought in two runs in the first two innings for a quick 4-0 lead before the Owls managed to get one runner across home plate in the third. Then Claremont added five runs in both the third and fourth innings, one in the fifth and three more in the seventh. The Owls exploded for five runs of their own in the fifth and brought home two more in the sixth, but couldn’t overcome the large deficit.
Zach Johnson, Brack and Micahel O’Neil all combined for six of the team’s nine hits and Brack led the way with four RBI.
The team is back in action for a doubleheader on Friday as it rekindles SLIAC play with a series at Principia College.
Softball
Owls softball played a Sunday doubleheader against visiting Illinois Wesleyan University and split the series with the Titans.
MUW (5-8) tallied three runs in the second inning and two in the third for an early 5-0 lead then held Wesleyan to just one run in each of the fourth, fifth and seventh innings for the victory. Addison Owen led the team with three hits while Avery Johnston notched two RBI. Trinity Garvin held down the fort from the circle as she relinquished nine hits but only gave up three earned runs.
In the second game, the Owls struggled to score off Titan pitcher Gianna Certa, who went all seven innings and fanned six while only giving up four hits. On offense, Wesleyan managed to score one run in each of the second, third, fourth and seventh innings.
The team returns for play on Saturday for a doubleheader at Huntingdon College.
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