COLUMBUS, Miss. – Owls softball closes this season's home play, splitting a doubleheader with Xavier University on Sunday, April 18, inside of Owls Park. The W took game one in an extra-inning, 7-6, but was unsuccessful in the second competition, falling 6-3.

GAME ONE (W, 7-6, 8-innings)
Senior pitcher Kaitlyn Parrish entered the game in the sixth inning to receive the win in game one. The Atalla, Ala., native pitched 2.2 innings for two hits against, two earned runs, and two strikeouts.

MacKenzie Denton started in the circle to pitch 5.1 innings for six strikeouts, seven hits against, and four earned runs.

Offensively, Jessica Deming led the Owls at the plate. The junior infielder went 2-for-4, including one double, with two runs and one RBI. Katie Beth Williams led the team in RBIs with two, while Austyn Holden and Hannah Hurdle added one RBI each to the effort.

Deming was the first to score for The W, coming home on an error by Xavier's third baseman in the first. The Owls pushed their lead to 3-0 when Williams collected two RBIs by hitting into an error that allowed Holden and Megan Cummins to scored.

The Gold Nuggets cut the Owls lead to 3-2, scoring their first runs in the top of the fourth.

The Owls answered in the fifth with Hurdle doubling for an RBI to extend the lead, 4-2.

Xavier received its first lead of the game with two runs in the sixth and an additional run scored in the seventh.

The Owls pushed an extra inning, tying the game at five runs, with Williams scoring on a wild pitch.

The Gold Nuggets scored their final run in the eighth, and the Owls replied in the bottom of the inning with an RBI double from Deming and an RBI double from Holden.
GAME TWO (L, 6-3)
Junior Amelia Stalter suffered the loss in the circle for game two. The Atlantic Beach, Fla., native pitched 2.1 innings with two strikeouts, five hits against, and four earned runs.

Parrish closed with 4.2 innings pitched for one strikeout and two earned runs.

At the plate, Ashton Farnell went 2-for-3 to lead the team in hitting, and Lauren Duckworth, Cummins, and Hurdle collected one RBI each. Hurdle also hit her first home run of the season.

Xavier struck first with a run in the top of the first. The W answered in the bottom of the inning, with Cummins recording an RBI on a ground out.

In the third, the Gold Nuggets added three runs to take a 4-1 lead.

Hurdle homered in the fourth for an RBI, and Duckworth scored Anna Kate O'Bryant in the fifth for an RBI.

The Gold Nuggets sealed their victory with single runs in the sixth and seventh to close the game 6-3.

The Owls will take a week off for finals before returning to the field on Tuesday, April 21, when they travel to Talladega, Ala. to take on Talladega College. The first pitch of the double header is set for 1 p.m.