COLUMBUS, Miss. – The Mississippi University for Women softball team had a chance to move up in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) standings, taking on the circuit's second place team, Webster University. However, the Owls (19-15, 5-7 SLIAC) – currently sitting in fifth in the SLIAC post-season race – dropped two close affairs to the Gorloks (20-9-1, 7-2 SLIAC), 6-4 (in 8 innings) and 6-5, at Don Usher Field.
 
In the opener, it was MUW flying out of the gate by scoring all of its runs in the very first inning. The W sent nine batters to the plate, with leadoff hitter Jessica Deming (0-3) eventually tallying the first run on a WU wild pitch. That was followed by an RBI single from Reagan Newell (1-4) and a two-run double by Aston Farnell (1-3) to make it 4-0.
 
Owls' starting pitcher Rylie Grisham went 5.0 innings, exiting after allowing a leadoff single in the sixth with the score tied at 4-4. Jade Rushing took over duties in the circle and promptly induced an unassisted double play by firstbaseman Maiya Joe, followed by a ground out to get out of the inning.
 
The game remained knotted a 4-4 through regulation. In the top of the eighth, the Gorloks scored a pair of runs, while The W was retired in order for the 6-4 final.
 
Rushing (1-2) took the loss with 2.1 innings of relief work.
 
Grisham was the lone Owls' player with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 on a pair of singles to left.
 
Game two began exactly the opposite as the first, with Webster plating four runs in its opening at-bats.
 
This time it was MUW battling back in the home half of the third. Newell slapped a two-run double to cut the deficit in half. A dropped ball in left off the bat of Grisham allowed two more runs to come across, as MUW tied the game at 4-4.
 
The joy for The W was short-lived, as the Gorloks pushed across a pair of runs in the in their next turn at bat, to jump on top, 6-4.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, Grisham belted an RBI double with two out, making it a one-run game. But The W would strand the potential tying run at second when the final out was recorded on a ground out to the pitcher.
 
Kaitlyn Bearley lead the Owls' 10-hit attack, going 3-for-4, with a double and a run. Grisham was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk. Joe finished game two by going 2-for-4, with a run scored.
 
Freshman Baylee McWilliams took the loss, falling to 3-4, with 6.0 Innings of relief work. McWilliams struck out four Gorloks and walked two.