Championship Central |
Bracket
OZARK, Mo. – The second day of the 2017 Great Lakes Valley Conference Baseball Championship Tournament was highlighted by two upsets and a walk-off victory. Despite some morning drizzle in Ozark, Missouri, at the U.S. Baseball Park, conditions were much improved the remainder of the day and allowed all four games to be completed without delay.
The second day started off with back-to-back upsets, as the No. 4 East seed Saint Joseph’s eliminated the No. 3 West seed Missouri S&T, 9-4, before No. 3 East Illinois Springfield topped No. 1 East Southern Indiana, 7-1. UIS now advances for the first time in the league's championship event since joining the GLVC in 2008.
The third game of the day was looking like another upset brewing, as #2E Bellarmine opened a 3-0 lead on #1W Drury through three-and-a-half innings. The Panthers fought back, however, with a five-run fourth inning. It was the Knights that responded with one in the eighth and two more from a long bomb over center in the top of the ninth for a 6-5 lead. It was look like those late heroics would be enough until Drury loaded the bases and answered with a two-run, walk-off single that kept the Panthers alive in the winners’ bracket.
After scoring opened in the third and fourth innings for a 1-1 tie in the nightcap, #2W Quincy took the lead 4-1 in the seventh and never looked back, hanging on for its eventual 6-2 victory over #4W William Jewell to move on unscathed in the postseason even thus far.
The first two contests on Saturday will again be elimination games, as Bellarmine and Saint Joseph’s will battle at 9 a.m. CT, followed by Illinois Springfield and William Jewell at 12:30 p.m. The winner of the UIS-Jewell contest will turn around immediately to face Drury at 4 p.m., and then the winner of Bellarmine and Saint Joseph’s will compete against Quincy at 7:30 p.m.
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 tournament coverage and updates.