GLVC Softball Tournament Preview
#1 Drury Panthers (31-19, 22-6 GLVC) vs. #8 Rockhurst Hawks (18-24, 14-14 GLVC)
April 30 – May 3
Eastside Centre, East Peoria, Illinois
 
Game Information
Tickets
Championship Central
GLVCSN ($)

 
GLVC Softball Tournament opens on Wednesday; Drury takes on Rockhurst
Top-seeded Drury opens their Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) tournament run on Wednesday against eighth-seeded Rockhurst at 3 pm. The tournament is being played at Eastside Centre in East Peoria, Illinois.
 
Drury enters the tournament as the regular season co-champion with Lewis. The Panthers earned the tiebreaker because of their sweep against Maryville, where Lewis was swept by Maryville. Drury won the GLVC West in 2012, the closest the Panthers have gotten to winning a regular season title. In 2012, Drury had the third-best overall GLVC record between the east and west divisions. This season's 22-6 GLVC record was the best league record that the Panthers have ever had. Drury enters the tournament winning 14 out of their last 15 GLVC games. The only loss was a game two lost on April 18 against UMSL, 4-0. Entering the tournament, Drury is the seventh-ranked team in the Midwest region. That ranking is third in the GLVC behind Lewis and McKendree. A GLVC Tournament championship would give an automatic bid to whoever won, it would be Drury's first program tournament championship.
 
Rockhurst will be the first team that Drury meets in the tournament. The eighth-seeded Hawks finished the regular season by being swept by Missouri S&T at home. Rockhurst finished the regular season with a 14-14 GLVC record. Rockhurst and Drury met on April 12. Drury won both games, 2-1 and 4-0. Sophia Luetticke was 3-5 between both games. AJ Agers threw a complete game one and did not allow a single earned run. In the second game, Jordyn Foley threw 4.1 innings and was given the win. Natalie Wilks and Avery Budde came out of the bullpen in the second game.
 
Drury has a combined 9-5 record against the other seven teams in the GLVC Tournament, with three of those wins being one-run games. This season, Drury is 13-5 in one-run games, with 12 of those wins coming since March 8.
 
The winner of the Drury vs Rockhurst game will play the winner of the McKendree vs Illinois Springfield game. The losers of those games will also play. Both games will be played on Thursday.
 
QUICK FACTS
 
Head Coach
Drury - Brooke Gajewski (2^nd season, 61-43)
Rockhurst – Dana Gross (2^nd season, 35-48)
 
Stat Leaders
Drury - #11 Sophia Luetticke (.399 BA, .986 OPS, 19 RBIs, 47-49 SB), #10 Natalie Wilks (2.53 ERA, 5-2, 1 save)
Rockhurst - #12 Eva Fulk (.364 BA, .876 OPS, 5 RBIs, 23-29 SB), #18 Riley Braden (2.38 ERA, 61.2 IP, 5-4)

#OneDrury