FULTON, Mo. - With the 2025 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) regular season drawing to a close this weekend, The W began its back-to-back road doubleheaders with a split at Westminster College, that kept the team in the No. 3-seed position for next week's SLIAC tournament. The Owls (22-14/12-4 SLIAC) lost to the Blue Jays (11-25/7-9 SLIAC) in the opener, 3-2, before coming back to take the second game of the afternoon, 7-2.
With its season finale set for Sunday (May 4) at Webster University, MUW would need a sweep of the Gorloks and some help from current SLIAC No. 4 Blackburn College. BC would need to also sweep No. 2 Greenville University in their Sunday twinbill for the Owls to leapfrog the Panthers and take over the second position (and a first-round bye) for the SLIAC tourney, based on criteria. Anything less means The W retains the third spot and travels to the No. 6 seed for Tuesday's first round play-in game, for a berth in the final four.
Certainly losing Saturday's opener to Westminster made what was a big job headed into the weekend, even larger. MUW outhit the Blue Jays, 9-5, but managed to leave nine runners on base for the game. With WC tallying single runs in the second and fifth innings, an unearned run in the third proved costly, as well.
Emilee Slade's (2-4) RBI single in the top of the third drove home
Chloe McClain (2-3) to knot the game at 1-1. But the Jays came back in the home half of the third, taking advantage of an Owls' error to add a run, before eventually gaining the 3-1 cushion.
Lilly Harrison (1-2) led off the seventh with an infield single to give The W a glimmer of hope and, with one out, stole second to get into scoring position. Harrison advanced to third on a ground out and came home on
Riley Phillips' (1-4) little dribbler past the pitcher, making it 3-2. But that was as close as the Owls would get, as WC closed out the frame and the win.
Freshman
Brooklyn Rhodes (9-3) took the loss in them circle, scattering five hits over her 5.0 innings of work. Rhodes struck out four and walked two Blue Jays.
Bailey McClellan threw a hitless and scoreless sixth to keep MUW close.
The Owls used a 14-to-3 hitting attack, combined with a complete-game from
Avery Byerley, to dominate game two. The Blue Jays scored first, but The W scored most often with a pair of runs each in the second and third innings, to go along with three in the top of the seventh.
Five Owls had a multi-hit game in the win, led by McClain's 3-for-4 effort, including a pair of doubles. McClain, operating out of the No. 8 spot in the batting order, scored once and drove in two.
Kaitlyn Bearley, batting sixth, went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. Phillips and Rhodes were both 2-for-4, as well, with Phillips scoring twice.
Anna Sandlin was 2-for-3 with a run, while leadoff batter Slade (1-4) had a double for her team's third extra-base hit.
Byerley improved her personal record to 7-2, thanks to her team-leading eighth complete game. She permitted just three singles to the Jays, striking out one and walking one over her 7.0 innings, lowering her season opponent's batting average to an MUW best .240 for 2025.
