Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Softball Looks To Win First MVC Tournament Title This Weekend
05/07/2003 | 12:00:00 | Softball
May 7, 2003
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Carbondale, Ill. - #24 Southern Illinois (35-10, 18-6 MVC) begins the 2003 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Thursday, May 8, with the #2 seed and on a quest to win the first MVC title in school history. SIU earned a bye and will face the winner of the game between #3 Wichita State and #6 SMS at 7:30 p.m at the University of Evansville's Cooper Stadium.
Although the Salukis are 4-1 (3-0 vs SMS, 1-1 vs WSU) against their prospective first round opponent this season, coach Kerri Blaylock says the tournament is a whole new ballgame. The Salukis are a perfect 7-0 versus Wichita State and 2-7 against SMS in tournament play.
"When you get to the conference tournament all bets are off. No matter what we did against them (WSU & SMS) in the regular season doesn't matter. You just fight for your lives and teams are more intense and more focused. It doesn't matter who we play, we just have to play hard. I'm just glad to get a bye and play one game on the first day," said Blaylock.
Many fans are wondering if SIU has to win the MVC Tournament or play well to get a birth in the NCAA Tournament, but Blaylock is focusing on winning the Valley championship.
"I'm excited, the kids are excited and we're just ready to go. We just want to show well. It's important for us to play well regardless of whether an NCAA at-large birth is up for grabs. I don't have any control over that and I'd just like to win an MVC Tournament championship, then we can go the NCAA Tournament regardless," added Blaylock.
SIU is 33-35 in the league tournament including an 0-2 record in 2002. The Salukis had the #3 seed last year and lost to #4 Evansville 10-3 and were knocked out when #1 Illinois State beat the Salukis 1-0 in 10 innings. Southern is 3-6 in MVC Tournament games under Blaylock in her three tournaments. SIU lost to Creighton 5-4 in 14 innings, beat Northern Iowa 3-1 and lost to Illinois State 5-2 in 2001. The Salukis beat Creighton 1-0, lost 2-1 to Indiana State, beat Bradley 7-6 and lost to Creighton 2-1 in 13 innings in 2000, Blaylock's first season.
SIU has a winning record against Wichita State (7-0), Northern Iowa (6-4), Drake (4-3) and Creighton (3-2) in tourney play. The Salukis are even with Bradley (3-3) and have losing marks against Evansville (0-1), Illinois State (4-6), Indiana State (2-4) and SMS (2-7). Southern won the 1991 Gateway Conference and has finished second once and third and fourth four times each in the tournament's history (1983-present).
