2013 Mizuno/GLVC Softball Championship Tournament Central
EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The University of Southern Indiana begins the 2013 Mizuno/Great Lakes Valley Conference Softball Championship Tournament Friday at noon when it squares off against William Jewell College at the EastSide Center in East Peoria, Illinois.
USI won seven of its final eight games as it qualified for the GLVC Tournament for the first time since 2010. The Screaming Eagles finished the regular season with a 29-18 overall record and a 17-15 mark in GLVC play as they earned the No. 6 seed in the eight-team, double-elimination tournament.
Sophomores
Brooke Harmening and
MacKenzi Dorsam have played major roles in the Eagles' post-season push.
Harmening, USI's first 20-game winner since 2006, leads the Eagles in wins (20-10), ERA (1.69), strikeouts (148), opponent batting average (.192), doubles (14), home runs (8), and RBIs (44).
Dorsam, who has reached base safely in 35 of the last 37 games, has a team-best .362 batting average to go along with 13 doubles, three home runs, and 30 RBIs.
Freshman
Janna Green and junior
Kelsey Jankowski also have contributed to the Eagles' success this season. Green, who has driven in 18 runs this season, is tied with Harmening for second on the team with a .333 batting average, while her team-high 12 sacrifice bunts are second in the conference. Jankowski is second on the team with five home runs and 36 RBIs.
William Jewell won 12 consecutive games to finish the season with a 30-13 overall record and a 21-6 mark in GLVC play. The Cardinals, who finished second in the GLVC West Division and third overall, have a potent lineup that features a team batting average of .314 and a pair of 40-plus RBI producers in sophomore Faith Song and junior Rachel Hayden.
Song is hitting .348 with 10 home runs and 47 RBIs, while Hayden is hitting .394 with 12 doubles, six home runs and 40 RBIs. Sophomore Rachel Potvin leads the Cardinals with a .405 batting average, while Hayden is 12-4 with a team-best 2.12 ERA in the pitcher's circle.
The winner of the USI-William Jewell game will face the winner of game three, which features the No. 2 seed University of Missouri-St. Louis and No. 7 seed Quincy University Friday at 4 p.m. The losers of each of the aforementioned contests will square off in the elimination bracket Friday at 2 p.m.
Other first-round matchups include the No. 1 seed, the University of Indianapolis, taking on the No. 8 seed, Saint Joseph's College. The No. 4 seed, Lewis University, takes on the No. 5 seed, Bellarmine University, to complete the opening round.
Five games will be contested Saturday, with teams facing elimination in four of the contests. The GLVC Championship is Sunday at noon, with an “if necessary” game slated for 2 p.m.
Tickets on Friday are $10 for adults, $7 for students and youth (K-12—kids 5-and-under are admitted free), while tickets on Saturday are $7 for adults, $5 for students and youth (K-12—kids 5-and-under are admitted free). Tickets for Sunday's championship game(s) are $5 for adults, $3 for students and youth (K-12—kids 5-and-under are admitted free), while an All-Tournament pass can be purchased for $20.
Live coverage of the event, including live stats, audio, and video, can be accessed at gousieagles.com.
