SPRINGFIELD, Mo.– The Drury Panthers open the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament at 9 am on Thursday against 19th ranked Illinois Springfield at US Baseball Park in Ozark.
 
Drury is seeded fifth and enters the tournament 29-21 with a 21-12 record in the GLVC. The Prairie Stars are 34-14-1 and also went 21-12 in the conference to earn the fourth seed. The winner of Thursday's game will advance to Game 8 of the tournament on Friday at 7:30 pm and will play the winner of top-seeded Quincy and eighth-seeded Lewis. The loser of the Drury-UIS contest will play on Friday at 12:30 pm in Game 5 against the loser of the Quincy-Lewis game.
 
The other side of the GLVC bracket has second-seeded Maryville against number seven Bellarmine at 4 pm on Thursday, and third-seeded Missouri S&T will take on number six Southern Indiana on Thursday at 12:30 pm.
 
The hotly contested conference race produced a tournament field features eight teams separated by just three games in the league standings. Quincy, Maryville, and Missouri S&T all tied for first with 22-11 GLVC records while Illinois Springfield, Drury, and Southern Indiana all went 21-12 to finish one game back. Bellarmine finished seventh at 20-13 while Lewis got the final spot on the bracket with a 19-14 league record. Indianapolis also went 19-14 and was just three games back on the league leaders but lost the tie-breaker and will miss the GLVC tournament.
 
The Panthers enter the postseason coming off of a three-game series sweep at McKendree and have won seven of their last eight. Illinois Springfield was swept last weekend by Bellarmine but prior to that, had won 14 straight.
 
The Prairie Stars won the regular season series against Drury winning two of the three games March 31-April in Illinois. UIS swept a doubleheader from the Panthers winning 14-6 and 10-3 before the Panthers won the final game of the set with a 13-3 win in seven innings. Drury's projected starter on Thursday, Kaleb Schmidt, was injured and did not see action in the series against Illinois Springfield.
 
Drury has gone 11-8 against teams in this year's tournament having played every team in the field except Bellarmine.
 
The Panthers are 21-9 all-time in the GLVC tournament with nine appearances in the league's postseason and have won three championships (2015, 2014, and in their inaugural season of 2007).
 
Drury's game against UIS is the first game of the GLVC tournament with three more opening-round games scheduled for Thursday. The double-elimination tourney continues through Sunday, May 12 at US Baseball Park in Ozark. 
 
Diamond Notes
--Brandt Ollinger is hitting .476 in his last five games having gone 10 for 21 in that stretch.
--Jackson Dierenfeldt is 10 for 24 (.417) in his last six games with six runs scored.
--Collin Fraley is 6 for 15 (.400) in his last four games.
--Alex Austin leads the GLVC in earned run average with a 2.56 mark and his .209 opposing batting average ranks fourth best in the league.
--Clayton Engel ranks second in the GLVC in runs scored with 58, and is tied for third in doubles with 17.
--Freshman Aaron Mann is tied for fourth in the league in RBI's with 49.
--In their last three starts, Kaleb Schmidt is 1-1 with a 3.85 ERA, Tom Tewes is 0-0 with an 8.55 ERA, and Hunter Becker is 1-0, 3.23 ERA.
 
DRURY QUICK FACTS
Live coverage
Video- GLVCSN
Live Stats- glvcsports.com
GLVC Tournament Central
GLVC Tournament Bracket
 
Probable Starters for Drury
RHP Kaleb Schmidt (3-3, 3.94 ERA)
RHP Tom Tewes (5-2, 4.79 ERA)
RHP Hunter Becker (4-1, 4.06 ERA)
 
Head Coach
Scott Nasby (7th year, 227-152-1)
 
Stat Leaders
DU- Collin Fraley (.346, 0 HR, 17 RBI), Aaron Mann (.341, 6 HR, 49 RBI), Clayton Engel (.322, 9 HR, 47 RBI), Ethan Owens (.316, 1 HR, 24 RBI, 17 SB), Andrew Hastings (2-0, 2.17 ERA), Alex Austin (25 app., 4-3, 4 saves, 2.58 ERA)
 
Drury Summary
Record: 29-21 (21-12)
Current Streak: Won 3
All-time record in GLVC Tourn.: 22-9
Championships: 3 (2015, 2014, 2007)
Record in last five games: 4-1
Record at home: 15-12
Record on the road: 13-9
Vs RH starters: 27-19
Vs LH starters: 2-2
In 1-run games: 6-8
Extra Innings: 2-1
Shutouts: 4-4
Decided in last AB: 4-5
Leading after 6 inn: 23-2
Trailing after 6 inn: 4-16
Tied after 6 inn: 3-3
Leading after 7 inn: 19-3
Trailing after 7 inn: 4-13
Tied after 7 inn: 1-1
Leading after 8 inn: 18-2
Trailing after 8 inn: 2-13
Tied after 8 inn: 1-1
Best record: 29-21 (21-12)
Worst record: 15-17 (2-3)
Longest win streak: 7 (April 3-14)
Longest losing streak: 3, 2x (last, March 27-31)
 
 
#allweDUiswin