Baseball

Baseball Cougars
Play Their Way Into GLVC Tourney
         At one point this season, the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville baseball team was hoping just to get into the Great Lakes Valley Conference post-season tournament.
         But SIUE took seven of its last nine conference games to vault into second place in the standings and grab the No. 2 seed in this week’s GLVC Baseball Championships, which will be played at top-seeded Missouri-St. Louis.
         “We can’t complain considering we were in 10th place in the conference earlier this season,” Coach Gary Collins said.
         SIUE will have to wait until it knows its first round opponent, but it will be either Quincy or Wisconsin-Parkside. SIUE’s first-round game is scheduled for noon Thursday.
         Offensively, centerfielder Joe Wargo (Streator) leads the team in hitting with a .338 average. Jared Brueggeman (East Alton) has been hot as of late and has raised his average to .315.
         “Wargo and Brueggeman have both done a great job,” Collins said. The Cougars have been getting solid innings from their starting pitching, and their relievers have been getting the job done when called upon.
         “Starters Jarad Rettberg (Divernon) and David Briesacher (Waterloo) were both great this weekend,” Coach Gary Collins said. “Ryan Spurgeon (Bethalto) has been pitching well, and Brad Hinton (Clinton) has been super out of the bullpen.”

GLVC Baseball Tournament Schedule
at St. Louis, Mo.
Thursday, May 8
Game 1: #1 Missouri-St. Louis vs. #6 Kentucky Wesleyan, 3 pm
Game 2: #2 SIU Edwardsville vs. #5 Quincy/Wis-Parkside, Noon
Game 3: #3 Indianapolis vs. #4 Quincy/Wis-Parkside, 9 am

Friday, May 9
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs Loser Game 2, 9 am
Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Loser Game 3, Noon
Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3, 3 pm

Saturday, May 10
Game 7: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 9 am
Game 8: Loser Game 6 vs. Winner Game 4, Noon
Game 9: Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 3 pm

Sunday, May 11
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9 - Noon
Game 11: (if necessary) Winner Game 10 vs. Loser Game 10 - 3 pm