William Jewell (31-13): 6
Southern Indiana (29-20): 3
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Quincy (23-29): 1
Southern Indiana: 0
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EAST PEORIA, Ill.—The University of Southern Indiana softball team went two-and-out in its first appearance in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship Tournament since 2010 Saturday afternoon.
USI (29-20), the No. 6 seed, suffered a 6-3 setback to the No. 3 seed, William Jewell College, in the opening round before losing a 1-0 battle to the No. 7 seed, Quincy University, in the elimination bracket.
Despite racking up 13 hits against William Jewell, the Screaming Eagles were held scoreless for the first five innings of the contest. USI hit into a double-play in each of the first four innings and had a runner caught stealing at home plate after a pitch reached the backstop in the fifth frame.
William Jewell (31-13) was quiet, offensively, through four innings, but a six-run sixth inning gave the Cardinals a comfortable, 6-0, cushion.
USI rallied in the top of the sixth inning as junior
Kelsey Jankowski hit a two-run home run before freshman
Sarah Owens hit an RBI-double to cut William Jewell's lead in half. The Eagles, however, went down in order in the seventh frame as the Cardinals held on for the victory.
Sophomore
Brooke Harmening was charged with the loss after giving up six runs off eight hits in 4.2 innings of work. Harmening falls to 20-11 with the loss.
Owens (8-8) was solid in the circle against Quincy, giving up just four hits in six innings, but a solo home run by her counterpart, Lauren Francis, with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning proved to be the difference-maker.
USI had five hits and benefitted from four walks, but the Eagles stranded seven runners on base as it bowed out of the GLVC Tournament.
The Eagles, who were fifth in the last NCAA II Midwest Region rankings, will have to wait and see if they have done enough to qualify for the NCAA II Midwest Region Tournament. The NCAA Division II Softball Championship selection show is Monday at 9:30 a.m. (CDT) on www.ncaa.com.
Softball GLVC Tourney (5/4/13) Gallery