Championship Central |
Bracket
INDIANAPOLIS – The bracket is set for this week’s 2017 Great Lakes Valley Conference Baseball Championship Tournament, which will move for the first time to U.S. Baseball Park in Ozark, Missouri, May 11-14. The bracket features four seeded teams from both the East and West Divisions for the second year, highlighted by No. 1E Southern Indiana and No. 1W Drury. The Screaming Eagles and Panthers also clinched outright East and West Division titles, respectively.
No. 2E Bellarmine, No. 3E Illinois Springfield and No. 4E Saint Joseph’s have qualified for the postseason event out of the East, while No. 2W Quincy, No. 3W Missouri S&T and No. 4W William Jewell will represent the West.
For the second season in a row, the tournament will be played on one primary field for an extended format of four games over the first three days. In addition, the game times have changed to allow three-and-a-half hours to complete rather than three, and are now scheduled at 9 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Central Time.
The tournament’s opening contest will feature No. 3E Illinois Springfield (30-18, 18-8 GLVC) and No. 2W Quincy (28-20, 17-10) on Thursday at 9 a.m. CT. The two teams squared off in non-conference play just once back on March 21 with the Hawks winning 5-4 in Quincy, Illinois. UIS will be making its third appearance in the league’s postseason event, while Quincy enters for the 14th time.
The winner of that contest will battle the winner of the No. 4W William Jewell (21-25, 13-13) and No. 1E Southern Indiana (32-17, 22-6) matchup, which will be played Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The Cardinals and Screaming Eagles did not meet during the regular season. Jewell has qualified for its third GLVC tournament, and USI has made its 21st berth and second in a row as the top seed.
In the bottom half of the bracket, No. 3W Missouri S&T (26-21, 16-12) will face No. 2E Bellarmine (33-17, 20-8) on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. This will be the first time the two teams have played each other this season. S&T and Bellarmine’s bids are the sixth and 19th in program history, respectively.
In the 4 p.m. contest on Thursday, No. 4E Saint Joseph’s (32-18, 14-14) will battle No. 1W Drury (33-17, 19-9). These two teams will be playing for the first time in 2017. SJC makes its 22nd and final entrance in the Conference’s championship affair, while Drury is on its eighth visit.
Tickets for the 38th annual Conference tournament are $10 for adults, $8 for students (with ID) and $5 for youth, while kids 5-and-under are free. In addition, the GLVC is offering an All-Tournament pass for $35.
For more information, log on to the championship site at
GLVCsports.com/baseball17.