The UMSL Tritons will be the No. 5 seed in the GLVC Softball Tournament, which will begin on Thursday in East Peoria, Ill. (Photo: Thomas Grove)

Nora Nichols
Staff Writer

INDIANAPOLIS, IN — The Great Lakes Valley Conference announced on Sunday, the eight-team field that will compete in the 2024 GLVC Softball Championship Tournament later this week at the EastSide Center softball facility in East Peoria, Ill.

The tournament will begin on Thursday, May 2 and will continue until the championship game on Sunday, May 5.

After finishing the regular season with 10 wins in its final 13 games, the University of Missouri-St. Louis Tritons skyrocketed up the GLVC standings and will be the No. 5 seed in the tournament. UMSL will begin play in the event’s opening game on Thursday.

The Tritons (27-25) will face No. 4 seed McKendree (33-20) in a matchup that will begin at 10 a.m. UMSL and McKendree played a doubleheader on March 24 at McKendree.

The Bearcats swept both games and it’s those two wins that allowed McKendree to finish ahead of UMSL in the GLVC standings. McKendree was 16-10 in league play. UMSL was 14-12.

The GLVC Championship is a double-elimination tournament. If UMSL wins, they will play the winner of the No. 1-seed versus No. 8-seed matchup between top-seeded Indianapolis and bottom-seeded Maryville on Friday. Should the Tritons lose their opener, they would play the loser of the second game in an elimination game, also on Friday, with the winner advancing, while the loser would be done for the season.

The GLVC sports information office provided a breakdown of each of the tournament’s first round matchups:

Game 1: #4 McKendree vs. #5 Missouri-St. Louis | Thursday, May 2, 10 AM CT

  • McKendree went 33-20 overall and 16-10 in GLVC action during the regular season.
  • The Bearcats are making their sixth appearance in the GLVC postseason.
  • UMSL went 27-25 overall and 14-12 in GLVC action during the regular season.
  • The Tritons are making their 22nd appearance in the GLVC postseason and third in a row, having claimed five Conference titles.

Game 2: #1 Indianapolis vs. #8 Maryville | Thursday, May 2, 12:30 PM

  • Indianapolis went 50-3 overall and 25-1 in GLVC action during the regular season.
  • The NFCA second-ranked Greyhounds earned the GLVC Regular Season title and now have won either the Regular Season or Divisional crown a GLVC-best six times.
  • UIndy is making its 34th appearance in the GLVC postseason and sixth in a row with three conference titles to its name, winning in 2012, 2016, and 2021.
  • Maryville went 23-28 overall and 13-13 in GLVC action during the regular season.
  • The Saints are making their fifth appearance in the GLVC postseason.
  • UIndy swept Maryville on April 14 at home, 2-1 and 8-5.
  • Maryville lost a three-way tiebreaker against Truman and S&T, starting with being swept by Truman; after splitting its DH with S&T, both were swept by top-seeded UIndy, but S&T split with second-seeded Lewis and Maryville was wept by the Flyers.

Game 3: #2 Lewis vs. #7 Missouri S&T | Thursday, May 2, 3:00 PM

  • Lewis went 36-13 overall and 21-5 in GLVC action during the regular season.
  • The Flyers are making their league-best 35th appearance in the GLVC postseason and owns the most Conference titles with 11, including winning last year’s crown.
  • S&T went 23-31 overall and 13-13 in GLVC action during the regular season.
  • The Miners are making their seventh appearance in the GLVC postseason and first since 2018.
  • Lewis and S&T split in Romeoville on April 14, as the Flyers won 5-4 in the first game and the Miners returned the favor with a 1-0 result in the second game.
  • S&T lost a tiebreaker to Truman after being swept in the head-to-head DH; split the head-to-head DH with Maryville; both S&T and Maryville were swept by top-seeded UIndy, but S&T split with second-seeded Lewis while Maryville was swept.

Game 4: #3 Drury vs. #6 Truman State | Thursday, May 2, 5:30 PM

  • Drury went 29-22 overall and 17-9 in GLVC action during the regular season.
  • Drury is making its seventh appearance in the GLVC postseason and fifth consecutive.
  • Truman went 23-27 overall and 13-13 in GLVC action during the regular season.
  • The Bulldogs are making their seventh appearance in the GLVC postseason and first since 2019.
  • Drury swept Truman in Springfield on March 30, 3-1 and 1-0.
  • Truman won a three-way tiebreaker over S&T and Maryville after going 4-0 against the two teams.

Here is the full 2024 GLVC Softball Championship Tournament bracket: