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Championship Central |
Bracket
INDIANAPOLIS – The bracket is set for this week’s 2015 Great Lakes Valley Conference Baseball Championship Tournament, which will be held for the first time at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana, May 7-10. Quincy, the GLVC West Division Champion, will own the top seed in the double-elimination postseason event, followed by East Division title holder Indianapolis as the No. 2 seed. No. 3 William Jewell, No. 4 Truman State, No. 5 Southern Indiana, No. 6 Bellarmine, No. 7 Drury and No. 8 Missouri S&T round out the conference contingent.
The top three teams from each division, along with two wildcards make up the eight-team field, based on winning percentage in conference play. With five GLVC West teams making the field, the tournament’s opening round games will feature three interdivision matchups and one intradivision contest including top-seeded Quincy.
For the first time the bracket will be played out in its entirety at Grand Park whereas in years past two separate locations were needed to facilitate games over the first two days.
The top-seeded Hawks (36-14, 27-9 GLVC, .750) will square off against GLVC West opponent and eight-seeded Missouri S&T (25-24, 19-17, .528) at Grand Park Field D-4 – the designated championship field – on Thursday, May 7, at 2:30 p.m. ET. After dropping the first game by a run, Quincy rebounded to take the next three games and the conference series win at Missouri S&T back on April 11-12.
No. 2 seed Indianapolis (32-17, 26-10, .722) will open tournament action against No. 7 seed and defending GLVC Champion Drury (27-22-1, 19-16-1, .542) on Grand Park Field D-3 at 2:30 p.m. ET. The two teams did not meet in the regular season and last battled on the second day of the 2014 GLVC Tournament where the Panthers defeated the Greyhounds, 7-6.
Two 11 a.m. ET games will open the tournament on Thursday, the first of which will include No. 4 Truman State (30-18, 21-15, .583) against No. 5 defending NCAA Champion Southern Indiana (26-19, 21-15, .583) on Grand Park Field D-4. Truman earned the No. 4 seed based on a head-to-head tiebreak as the Bulldogs swept the then-No. 6 ranked Screaming Eagles in a four-game road trip in Evansville, March 14-16. USI enters the postseason as one of the hottest teams in the league, having won its last 10 games.
The other tournament opener on Thursday will feature No. 3 William Jewell (35-15, 24-12, .667) against No. 6 Bellarmine (28-22, 20-16, .556) at 11 a.m. ET on Grand Park Field D-3. The two teams have not met since the Cardinals took three out of four conference games in Louisville, March 15-16, 2014.
Tickets for the 36th annual conference tournament are $10 for adults, $8 for students, and $5 for children, while kids 5-and-under are free. Tickets will be available at those prices from Thursday through Saturday, while Sunday's tickets will dip to $8 for adults, $5 for students, and $3 for children. The GLVC is offering an All-Tournament pass for $35.
Each tournament game will be streamed live and free on the GLVC Sports Network, and can be accessed by logging on to
GLVCsports.com/watch. Live stats will also be available for each game and links can be found on the official tournament website,
GLVCsports.com/GLVCbase15.