IW sets for SLIAC tournament run

The four SLIAC softball finalists are one day away from the beginning of the conference tournament, which will begin Friday, May 3. The SLIAC tournament was originally set to start tonight (Thursday), but was moved due to weather, moving Iowa Wesleyan's tournament opener to Friday afternoon at 1 p.m.

The Tigers will the No. 2 seed in the tournament, and will be taking on Greenville University. IW swept Greenville at home in their only games of the season, beating the Panthers on a Kayla Ford walk-off double in game one to complete a 3-2 comeback victory, and rolling 9-2 in game two.

The winner will take on the winner of the Spalding-Eureka game, which is set to take place right after IW's opener, at 3 p.m. The Tigers split at Eureka last month, taking game one 1-0 and falling 15-1 in game two, and had a simlar result in a home doubleheader against Spalding, winning 8-1 in game one and falling 17-0 in a six-inning game two.

The tournament is a true double-elimination bracket, and features a few cinderella stories. Greenville comes in as the three-time defending champion, but the other three teams have combined for just six appearances in the history of the conference.

The top two teams in the conference weren't meant to be in the postseason. Regular season champion Eureka was picked sixth in the preseason poll, and IW was picked eighth. The Tigers, of course, are making their first ever SLIAC tournament appearance.

The top hitter in conference play this year belongs to Greenville. Utility player Beth Mersinger had 33 RBIs in SLIAC games this season, which was six more than second place. IW's Morgan Christner finished with 24 RBIs in conference games, which is fourth in the league. Allison Daum has a top-10 average in the conference, hitting .467.

Eureka's Erin Smith and IW's Christner have been the most dominant pitchers in the league this season. Smith went 9-2 with a 1.85 ERA and 47 strikeouts in conference play. Christner was 9-1 with a 2.22 ERA and 93 Ks.

The weekend's festivities will end with one team getting sent to the NCAA Division III tournament, keeping dreams of a national title alive.