COLUMBUS, Miss. – The W baseball team took care of checking off a big box on its "to-do" list for 2026, by clinching a finish among the top four teams for the upcoming St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) post-season tournament, thanks to its doubleheader split with Greenville University at CCA Field. The Owls (21-17, 15-8 SLIAC) lost game one to the Panthers (16-20, 9-11 SLIAC), 8-6, but bounced back to win game two by a convincing, 11-3, score.
 
Mathematically, MUW could still end up anywhere between a No. 2-seed, and earning a bye to the final four of the tourney, or the Nos. 3 or 4 seed and the right to host its first-ever home playoff game on May 5. The rubber game of the series with GU is slated for Saturday (April 25/12 p.m.), weather permitting.
 
In the first game, the Owls led 3-1 early, thanks to Baron Brack's two-run triple in the home half of the third. But the Panthers would get to Owls' starter Robby Canten (1-5) for a run in the fourth and four in the fifth, to take the lead for good.
 
A sacrifice fly by leadoff batter Matthew Windham in the seventh and an unearned run in the eighth got The W to within 6-5. But two insurance runs in the ninth by Greenville proved more than the Owls could overcome, despite adding a run in their final at-bat for the 8-6 final.
 
Brack finished game one going 2-for-3 with four runs batted in. He had the triple, a walk, and a sacrifice fly.
 
Freshman Jay Marbutt was the only other MUW player with multiple hits, going 2-or-5 with a double, and two runs scored.
 
Zach Johnson (1-4) had a double and Swayze Rikard (1-3) a triple, among The W's nine total hits.
 
In game two, Will Carter made his first start of the year and gave his team 6.0 strong innings, as he improved his personal record to 8-0 for the season. Carter scattered six hits, gave up three runs, just two of which were earned. He struck out three Panthers and walked one.
 
Zach Connell tossed 3.0 scoreless innings of relief to earn his first save of the year. He allowed just one hit and struck out four.
 
Brack led a quartet of Owls with a pair of hits, each. Brack went 2-for-5, with a double, three RBI and two runs scored.
 
Griffin Fuller was 2-or-3, with two runs scored and an RBI. Shortstop Chase Marshall went 2-for-3, including clubbing his seventh home run of the year, with a two-run blast in the first. First-baseman Hastings Gibson finished 2-or-4, with a double, run and RBI.
 
Windham (1-3) and Zack Egan (1-4) each had a triple.