LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The W softball saw its 2025 season come to a close with a pair of losses in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) tournament on Friday. The Owls (25-17) fell in the championship bracket to No. 1-seed Spalding University, 4-2, before being ousted by No. 2 Greenville University, 5-0, in an elimination game.
 
Trailing in game one, 1-0, after one inning, the Owls evened things up in top of the third on Taylor Palmer's RBI single. The Golden Eagles plated a pair of runs in the third to chase starter Avery Byerley (8-3), who gave up six hits.
 
Brooklyn Rhodes threw the final 3.0 frames, allowing one hit and one run.
 
But the Owls' offense could not take advantage, only able to muster an unearned run in the fifth the rest of the game.
 
Junior third baseman Chloe McClain had half of her team's four hits, going 2-for-3 with a double.
 
That dropped MUW into the elimination game versus old nemesis No. 2-seed Greenville University, whom they upset on Thursday evening. But the rematch was all Panthers (35-4).
 
The W did manage six hits (all singles), but stranded a total of eight runners on base. That, coupled with seven strikeouts by the Owls, resulted in frustration on the scoreboard. Defensively, three MUW errors led to four unearned runs (out of five) scoring
 
Senior catcher Emilee Slade had the team's lone multi-hit game, going 2-for-4.
 
Starter Bailey McClellan went 3.1 innings, giving up two hits and three unearned runs. Rhodes (10-4) went the final 2.2 frames and took the loss.