The Lions will enter the postseason ranked No. 13 in the country, after finishing the regular season with a 29-7 overall record. (Photo courtesy Lindenwood Athletics)
by Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
The Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship Baseball Tournament will begin on Thursday at the Lou Brock Sports Complex, and the host Lindenwood Lions will enter the tournament as the Blue Division No. 1 seed.
This year, the 15 teams participating in GLVC baseball were broken into two divisions — the Green Division and the Blue Division — with the top four teams from each division earning a spot in the conference’s postseason tournament. Lindenwood finished in first place in the Blue Division with a 25-7 league record.
That mark alone might be enough to land the Lions an at-large spot in the NCAA Division II National Tournament, but the only way to guarantee their way in is to win the GLVC Tournament and claim the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA Regionals.
Lindenwood will play its first GLVC Tournament game, Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m., against Missouri S&T. The winner of that matchup will then advance to winner’s bracket and play its second game on Friday afternoon with a chance to coast into the tournament semifinals on Saturday. The losing team in that first game will fall into the loser’s bracket and play on an elimination game on Friday morning.
If Lindenwood can reach the NCAA Regionals, it will be the first time the program has made it that far in a single season since the Lions won the NCAA Central Region championship in 2017.
2021 GLVC Baseball Tournament Schedule
(all games played at Lou Brock Sports Complex – Lindenwood University)
Thursday, May 13
Game 1 – Indianapolis vs. Rockhurst — 9 am
Game 2 – Quincy vs. Southern Indiana — 12:30 pm
Game 3 – Missouri S&T vs. Lindenwood — 4 pm
Game 4 – Lewis vs. Illinois-Springfield — 7:30 pm
Friday, May 14
Game 5 – Game 2 Loser vs. Game 3 Loser — 9 am
Game 6 – Game 1 Loser vs. Game 4 Loser — 12:30 pm
Game 7 – Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner — 4 pm
Game 8 – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner — 7:30 pm
Saturday, May 15
Game 9 – Game 5 Winner vs. Game 7 Loser — 9 am
Game 10 – Game 6 Winner vs. Game 8 Loser — 12:30 pm
Game 11 – Game 8 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner — 4 pm
(if the loser of this game has suffered its 2nd loss,
the winner automatically advances to Championship Sunday)
Game 12 – Game 7 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner — 7:30 pm
(if the loser of this game has suffered its 2nd loss,
the winner automatically advances to Championship Sunday)
Sunday, May 16
Game 13 – Game 11 Winner vs. Game 11 Loser (if Game 11 was this team’s 1st loss) — 9 am
Game 14 – Game 12 Winner vs. Game 12 Loser (if Game 12 was this team’s 1st loss) — 9 am or 12:30 pm
Game 15 – Championship Game — 12:30 pm or 4 pm
(winner declared league champion and receives automatic bid into NCAA Regionals)