Baseball

Cougars Qualify for GLVC Tourney
         For the eighth consecutive year, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville has qualified for the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament.
         SIUE evened its overall record at 24-24 and improved to 17-13 in the GLVC with a doubleheader sweep over Bellarmine in the home finale at Cougar Field on Sunday. SIUE defeated Bellarmine 4-0 in a seven-inning game and 1-0 in a nine-inning thriller.
         SIUE holds the longest current streak of consecutive appearances in the GLVC Tournament. That streak was in jeopardy when SIUE was as far back as eighth at midseason. The Cougars have won seven of their lst 10 heading into next week's GLVC Tournament in St. Louis.
         Missouri-St. Louis clinched the No. 1 seed and will be the host for the six-team tournament. With a field of teams all within a few games, it will go down to the final day of the regular season to determine the full six-team field. Missouri-St. Louis, SIU Edwardsville, Wisconsin-Parkside and Indianapolis appear to have clinched a spot with the remaining two spots being fought between Saint Joseph's, Northern Kentucky, Quincy and Kentucky Wesleyan.
         In Sunday's game, pitching led SIUE as Jarad Rettberg and David Briesacher tossed two-hit shutouts.
         Rettberg struck out nine and walked one.
         Brad Scott picked up a sacrifice fly in the third inning to give SIUE a 1-0 lead. The Cougars tallied three runs in the fifth as Scott singled in a run and Craig Ohlau singled home two more.
         In the nightcap, Briesacher was equally strong on the mound with 10 strikeouts in the nine-inning win. He outdueled Bellarmine's Ryan Dodson, who allowed SIUE's only run in the third when Ohlau doubled home Robert Rahn from second.
         SIUE is idle on Sunday and will await final results from other GLVC games before learning its first-round opponent in the GLVC Tournament, which begins Thursday.