Softball gears up for State Farm MVC Tournament
05/11/2011 | 12:00:00 | Softball
May 11, 2011
By Megan Kramper
SIUSalukis.com
GAME INFORMATION
No. 3 Southern Illinois Salukis (36-15, 17-6 MVC) vs. No. 6 Creighton (24-27, 12-12 MVC) or No. 7 Wichita State (20-36, 12-14 MVC)
Game No. 52
May 12, 2011 • 6:30 p.m.
State Farm MVC Tournament
Springfield, Mo. • Killian Softball Stadium
Radio: Saluki Game Central (Play-by-play with Patrick Erickson)
Video: MVC Live (Free on mvc-sports.com)
Stats: NeuLion LiveStats or stats.siu.edu
ON DECK: STATE FARM MVC TOURNAMENT
The No. 3 seed Salukis will open up play in the MVC Tournament on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. but will have to wait for their opponent. SIU will face the winner the game that takes place at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday between No. 6 Creighton and No. 7 Wichita State.
All Time Record: The Salukis hold a lifetime record of 39-49 at the MVC Tournament. Against projected first round opponents, SIU holds a 8-3 record over Creighton, while a perfect 8-0 record against Wichita State in the tourney play.
REVERSE THE CURSE
Coming into this weekend's Missouri Valley Conference tournament, the Salukis will look to win its first ever conference title. Since the forming of the MVC in 1993, the Salukis have not won an outright tournament title. The last time the Salukis won a conference tournament was back in 1991 under former head coach Kay Brechtelsbauer and then assistant coach Kerri Blaylock, when it was called the Gateway Conference.
PREVIOUSLY WITH CREIGHTON
The Salukis and Bluejays were supposed to meet on March 26-27 but snow in Omaha, Neb. eventually cancelled the series. The Bluejays hold the advantage in the all time series 20-26. The two teams met last season in the MVC Tournament where the Bluejays beat the Salukis twice, including in the tournament championship.
PREVIOUSLY WITH WICHITA STATE
The Salukis and Shockers met in week one of conference action in Carbondale, Ill. SIU swept the series, shutting out the Shockers in all three games with scores of 4-0, 5-0, 3-0. It was also the Salukis first sweep of WSU since 2001. The Dawgs hold the all time series advantage 44-23.
NEW/OLD FORMAT
In 2011, the State Farm MVC Softball Championship will return to the double-bye, single-elimination format that was played during the 2008 and 2009 Championships. This year goes away from the three games that were added to last year's bracket, allowing teams losing games five, six and eight the opportunity to play their way into the winner-take-all championship game in the modified double-elimination set-up.
BLAYLOCK WINS 450
With Saturday's game two 6-0 victory, head coach Kerri Blaylock earned her 450th career victory as a head coach. The 12th year head coach as quickly reached this mark after reaching the 400th plateau in the 2010 season.