LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The old adage of "if you want to be the best you have to beat the best" certainly played out Thursday, as The W softball - seeded No. 3 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) tournament - upset second-seeded Greenville University, 4-2, in a semifinal game at Legacy Field. The Owls (25-15) victory over the Panthers (33-4) propelled the team to the championship round of the double-elimination tourney versus No. 1-seed and host, Spalding University on Friday at 2:30 p.m. CT.
 
The contest was a marquee match-up of SLIAC post-season award winners in the circle for each team, featuring GU senior Melissa Bernal - the SLIAC Pitcher of the Year - versus MUW rookie Brooklyn Rhodes, the SLIAC co-Freshman of the Year.
 
And this round went to the youngster, as Rhodes improved her personal record to 10-3. Rhodes had a total of 6.2 innings pitched, exiting briefly in the fifth inning only to return after one-third of an inning when reliever Bailey McClellan got in trouble. Rhodes restored order and finished the game with two hits allowed, 9 strikeouts and just one walk.
 
Bernal, in suffering just her second (14-2) loss of the season, was charged with all four runs (three earned). She struck out two and walked one in 6.1 innings of work.
 
For the first four frames, it looked as though the only scoring was going to be an unearned run by the Owls to open the game. Emilee Slade ripped a leadoff double. The next batter was Anna Sandlin, who hit the ball back to Bernal, but a throwing error allowed Slade to come all the way around to make it 1-0.
 
That score stood until MUW added some insurance in the top of the fifth. With runners at second and third and one out, Riley Phillips (1-3) smacked a two-RBI single that extended the Owls' lead, 3-0.
 
But in the bottom of the fifth Spalding got a pair of runs back, charged to Rhodes, before The W freshman exited and then re-entered to stem the threat and keep it at 3-2.
 
Rhodes would help herself in the top of the seventh with a ground out RBI that made it the final 4-2 score.
 
Slade, batting in the leadoff slot, led the MUW attack with three (3-for-4) of her team' seven hits in the game. Kaitlyn Bearley (1-3) also had a double in the win.