Spring sports are in full swing at The W with its baseball and softball teams getting into their early-season slates. Here’s a look at how they’ve fared so far.
Baseball
It’s been an up-and-down start for the Owls on the diamond as they’ve compiled a 3-4 record to begin the season. The W opened up its year with back-to-back wins but slipped and lost four out of the last five contests, the most recent of which was a 15-9 defeat to LaGrange College on Sunday at the LaGrange Tournament.
The Owls broke through a 2-1 deficit in the fourth inning with three runs for a short-lived 4-2 lead. The Panthers responded with five runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings to pull away and tacked on three more in the eighth. MUW managed to plate four more runs in the eighth but couldn’t complete the comeback.
The Panthers racked up 15 hits, including eight against MUW starter Zach Connell, who gave up four runs through five innings of work. Five more Owls pitchers followed up Connell on the mound and they combined to allow four earned runs, five walks and four batters hit with zero strikeouts. Matthew Windham led the Owls at the plate with three hits, including a solo homer and two RBI. Zach Johnson and Baron Brack also each had three hits to help the team put the ball in play 15 times.
The team is back in action at 5 p.m. Saturday in Pearl when it takes on Belhaven in the Belhaven/Millsaps Tournament. The team will also play North Park University at noon on Sunday and Alma College at 4 p.m. on Monday. Both of those games will be played in Jackson.
Softball
The Owls’ softball team opened its season with back-to-back losses but has since followed up with four straight wins for an early 4-2 record.
In their last time out on Feb. 14, the Owls rallied in the bottom of the ninth for four runs to secure a 7-6 win over visiting Sewanee.
The teams took a 3-3 tie to the final frame, where Sewanee tacked on three runs to pull ahead in the top of the ninth. MUW responded with a score on a wild pitch, a two-RBI double by Chloe McClain and a score by Madison York during a pop-up hit by Gillion Eaves.
Eaves led at the plate with two of the team’s eight hits and Rachel Etheridge took home the win in the circle by closing the ninth with one strikeout and only one hit allowed.
Up next, MUW will play five straight games against Millsaps beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday in Jackson. The series begins at noon and the second game starts 20 minutes after the first game’s conclusion.
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