PREVIEW: Drury softball faces Lindenwood in NCAA-II Tournament’s opening round

SOFTBALL PREVIEW
Drury Panthers (36-15) in NCAA-II Midwest Regional #1
May 19-21, 2022
Game #1 – #5 Drury Panthers (36-15) vs. #4 Lindenwood Lions (35-11) 
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SPRINGFIELD, Mo.– The Drury Panthers will play their first NCAA-II Tournament game in program history on Thursday at noon when they take on Lindenwood in the Midwest Sub-Regional bracket in Evansville, Indiana. Drury is 36-15 and received an at-large bid to the tournament. The Lions are 35-11 and also earned an at-large bid.
 
Both Drury and Lindenwood are out of the Great Lakes Valley Conference and among four teams in the league that reached the tournament field. Both squads advanced to the semifinals of the GLVC Tournament last weekend, with the Panthers falling 1-0 in eight innings to Indianapolis, while the Lions fell to eventual champion Southern Indiana 4-1.
 
Thursday’s opening round is a rematch of a doubleheader played on April 3 in St. Charles, Missouri. Drury won game one 3-1 as Kristina Bettis got the win going 7 innings allowing 5 hits and 1 earned run with no walks and 7 strikeouts. Amanda Weyh took the loss as she went 7 innings and gave up 8 hits and 3 earned runs with no walks and 4 strikeouts. The Panthers won game two 10-1 in five innings as Reagan Hight went 2 for 3 with two doubles and three RBIs. Meagan Mullany also went 2 for 3 while hitting a home run and driving in three.
 
Drury softball is in its first NCAA-II Tournament in its 15-year history, but head coach Jerry Breaux will be taking his third collegiate program to a national event. Breaux, now in his fifth year leading the Panthers, took Evangel University to nine NAIA Regional Tournaments and the 2006 NAIA Softball World Series. He also guided Louisiana State-Alexandria to two NAIA Regionals, the 2016 NAIA Softball World Series and a third-place finish at the national championship. Breaux owns a career record of 867-494-2 in 29 seasons and is 128-88 in five years at Drury.
 
The sub-regional tournament is a four-team, double-elimination tournament. The winner of the Drury-Lindenwood game will play the winner of the Thursday 2:30 pm game between top-seeded and 10^th ranked Southern Indiana and number eight seed Saginaw Valley State on Friday at 2:30 pm. The loser of both games will play one another Friday at noon. The tournament concludes on Saturday.
 
The winner of this week’s sub-regional will play the winner of the other Midwest sub-regional hosted by Indianapolis in a best-of-three series May 19-20. The eight regional winners of the NCAA-II Tournament will advance to Denver, Colorado, in an eight-team, double-elimination tournament May 24-28.
 
GLVC Tournament Schedule
Midwest Regional #1 Bracket Schedule
Evansville, Ind.
THURSDAY
Game 1- #5 DRURY vs. #4 Lindenwood, noon
Game 2- #1 Southern Indiana (43-10) vs. #8 Saginaw Valley St. (34-18), 2:30 pm
 
FRIDAY
Game 3- winner Game 1 vs. winner Game 2, noon
Game 4- loser Game 1 vs. loser Game 2, 2:30 pm
Game 5- loser Game 3 vs. winner Game 4, 5 pm
 
SATURDAY
Game 6- winner of Game 3 vs. winner of Game 5, noon
Game 7 (if necessary)- winner of Game 6 vs. loser of Game 6, 2:30 pm
 
Diamond Notes
— Lauren Beier enters the tournament with a seven-game hitting streak and was the only Panther to have hits in both GLVC Tournament games last weekend
— Abby Tiemann ranks third in the GLVC in hits (63) and is tied for fourth in stolen bases (21)
— Kristina Bettis ranks fifth nationally in hits allowed, is seventh in wins (23), and is 10^th in NCAA-II in strikeouts (256)
 
Probable Starters for Drury
RHP Kristina Bettis (23-4, 1.16 ERA)
LHP Karsyn Smith (7-5, 2.43 ERA)
 
Head Coach
DU- Jerry Breaux (5^th year, 128-88 / 29^th year, 867-494-2)
 
Stat Leaders
DU- Rylee Kolb (.375, 3 HR, 23 RBI), Sydney Sneed (.347, 2 HR, 17 RBI), Abby Tiemann (.344, 21 SB), Megan Parsley (.337, 1 HR, 18 RBI), Lauren Beier (.321, 7 HR, 31 RBI); Kristina Bettis (23-4, 1.16 ERA, 193.2 IP, 256 SO, 66 BB)
 
Drury Summary
Record: 36-15
GLVC Record: 21-7 (3^rd)
Current Streak: Lost 1
Record in last four games: 3-1
Record at home: 16-5 (11-3)
Record on the road: 11-5 (10-4)
Record on neutral field: 9-5
Record vs. sub-regional field: 2-2 (2-0 vs. Lindenwood, 0-2 vs. Southern Indiana)
Record vs. NCAA-II Tourament field: 3-9
Record vs. ranked opponents: 1-9
In 1-run games: 6-6
In last At-Bat: 7-6
Extra Innings: 1-2
Shutouts: 11-6
Run Rule Games: 5-0
Leading after 5 inn: 27-0
Trailing after 5 inn: 0-11
Tied after 5 inn: 5-4
Leading after 6 inn: 25-1
Trailing after 6 inn: 1-11
Tied after 6 inn: 5-3
Best record: 36-14 (18-4)
Worst record: 1-3 (1-1)
Longest win streak: 11 (March 15-April 2)
Longest losing streak: 2 (4x, last April 24, DH)
 
 
#allweDUiswin