Championship Central |
Bracket
OZARK, Mo. – The first day of the 2017 Great Lakes Valley Conference Baseball Championship Tournament is in the books, and the story of the day was the weather. After multiple field and time changes, as well as a lightning and tornado warning delay, coupled with the uncertainty of whether all games would be played at all, the first four contests were successfully completed.
Along with the weather, the other notable result from the roller coaster day was the lopsided score lines. Game 1 saw the No. 2 West seed Quincy defeat the No. 3 East seed Illinois Springfield, 10-1, at the same time that #2E Bellarmine topped #3W Missouri S&T, 13-2, in Game 2. Both of those contests began at 9 a.m. Central Time, with the Hawks and Prairie Stars playing at U.S. Baseball Park while the Knights and Miners battled across town at Meador Park.
The third game of the day did not begin until 1:45 p.m. once the teams waited out a lightning delay, as the West’s top seed Drury eventually beat No. 4E Saint Joseph’s, 9-1. In the nightcap for Game 4, #4W William Jewell pulled off the only upset of the day with a 7-3 win against the East’s top seed Southern Indiana. That game was pushed back nearly two hours due to heavy rains, lightning and a tornado warning but was able to be completed in its entirety with dry skies for the duration.
The first two contests on Friday will be elimination games. S&T and Saint Joseph’s will battle at 9 a.m. CT, followed by Illinois Springfield and Southern Indiana at 12:30 p.m. Following that second game, Bellarmine and Drury will faceoff in the winner’s portion of the bracket, currently scheduled for 4 p.m., before the 7:30 p.m. matchup between Quincy and William Jewell closes out the second day of the postseason event.
For complete coverage of the tournament, archived video from the GLVC Sports Network, and full recaps from each participating school, visit the championship central page at
GLVCsports.com/baseball17. In addition, follow the GLVC’s official Twitter account (@
GLVCsports) for updates pertaining to potential schedule changes on Friday.