SEWANEE, Tenn. –
Abbie Buckner collected three hits and two RBIs in the doubleheader, but Mississippi University for Women plated four unearned runs in the opener and plated five runs in the first inning of the second game, sweeping Sewanee, 5-3 and 8-0, in softball action Saturday in Columbus, Miss.
In the opener the Owls scored once in the first and three times in the third, taking advantage of three Sewanee errors for four unearned runs.
Abbie Buckner posted two hits with a two-run double and later scored after an errant throw in the fifth inning, pulling the Tigers within 4-3, but MUW added another run in the sixth for a 5-3 victory.
Reagen Huskey (2-1) suffered the loss, allowing five runs, one earned, on nine hits. She walked two and struck out six. Brooklyn Rhodes posted the win for the Owls, giving up three runs, two earned, on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Emilee Slade and Lilly Harrison each collected two hits for MUW.
The Owls scored five times on seven hits in the first inning of the second contest and never looked back. Kaitlyn Bearley posted a two-run single and Slade drove in the final two runs of the game with a double in the third inning.
Ansley Giffin (0-1) gave up five runs on five hits to take the loss for the Tigers while
Hanna Hollis allowed three runs on five hits in three innings of relief. Phallyn Clark tossed five shutout frames for the win, giving up just two hits with two strikeouts.
Slade doubled to center with one out in the first and scored when the ball was misplayed in the outfield for the first run in the opener.
In the third Slade singled to rightcenter with one out and Riley Phillips reached on an error. Maiya Joe bounced into a fielder's choice, putting runners on the corners, before Anna Sandlin drove in a run with a single to center. Rhodes reached on an error in the outfield, allowing two more runs to come across for a 4-0 MUW advantage.
Huskey worked out of a bases loaded jam in the fourth after Chloe McClain led off with a single, Lilly Harrison reached on an infield single and Taylor Palmer walked. Slade struck out and Phillips and Joe both grounded out, with the Tigers getting an out at the plate on the Phillips grounder, keeping the deficit at 4-0.
The Tigers managed only two baserunners in the first four innings – a single in the second inning by Huskey and Buckner reached on an error in the third – before breaking through in the fifth.
Grace Black and
Kaylie Smith both walked with two out and Buckner followed with a two-run triple. She came across on the play when the ball got away in the infield and Sewanee trailed, 4-3.
Harrison led off the sixth with a single, stole second and went to third on a groundout by Palmer. Slade struck out but Phillips delivered a two-out RBI single to right, extending the MUW lead to 5-3.
Sewanee got the tying runs on base in the seventh with singles by Smith and Buckner, but
Madilyn Parker grounded out to end the game.
The second contest did not start well for the Tigers, with MUW posting five runs on seven hits in the bottom of the first inning.
Palmer drew a walk, Slade singled and both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Phillips plated a run with a single to left and Phillips and Slade executed a double steal for a run.
Joe and Sandlin followed with singles and Bearley singled home two runs, forcing a pitching change. Harrison singled with two outs and Palmer pushed across run with an infield single for a 5-0 advantage for the home team.
In the third Ashton Farnell doubled with one out and McClain followed with an RBI single. With two outs Palmer walked and both runners came home on a double to left by Slade.
Bucker singled in the first, Smith walked in the third and Parker singled in the fourth for the only baserunners of the game for the Tigers.
Sewanee's Sunday doubleheader at Belhaven was canceled because of a 95 percent chance of rain in the greater Jackson, Miss., area. The Tigers play again Thursday at Covenant College in a 2 p.m. ET doubleheader.
