The University of Illinois Springfield softball team will compete in the 2022 GLVC Softball Championship Tournament this week at EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Ill. The tournament starts on Thursday morning, and the finals are scheduled to be played on Sunday.
 
UIS will be the sixth-seed in the competition, and will face third-seed Drury in a first-round contest. That match will take place on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. UIS and Drury are on the bottom half of the bracket that includes second-seed Indianapolis and third-seed Drury. The top half of the bracket includes top-seed Southern Indiana, fourth-seed Lindenwood, fifth-seed Missouri-St. Louis, and eighth-seed Maryville.
 
UIS will bring a 31-18 record into the GLVC tournament. The 31 wins are tied for the fourth-most in program history, and mark the most for the team since 2018. UIS went 15-13 in GLVC play, and tied for sixth in the conference standings.
 
The Prairie Stars will have one of the top offenses in East Peoria, as they rank third in the GLVC with 5.5 runs per game. The offense is led by the team's speed, which includes over three stolen bases per game, the fourth-best mark in NCAA Division II. On the mound, UIS has a 3.16 ERA this season, which is seventh in the league.
 
UIS is led by the top of its lineup. Leadoff hitter Carly Chovanec is two runs away from the school's single-season record of 51, and she is currently tied for the single-season stolen base mark of 47. Danielle Dennis has tied the UIS single-season RBI record with 40. Jillian Mathis is hitting .402 and is chasing the school's batting average record.
 
On the mound, Payton Long is the team's ace. She has won 13 games this season, has a 2.46 ERA, and has struck out 117 batters in 130 2/3 innings of work.
 
UIS will be making its eighth all-time appearance in the GLVC Tournament, including its fifth straight showing. The Prairie Stars are 8-14 at the event, with their best showing coming in 2012 when they went 4-2 and reached the championship game.
  
UIS vs. Drury
Date/Time/Location: Thursday, May 5, 5:30 p.m. – East Peoria, Ill.
Live Stats: https://glvcsports.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary
Live Stats: https://glvcsn.com  
All-Time Series (Since 2011): UIS leads 14-13

Drury enters the conference tournament with a 35-14 overall record. The Panthers went 21-7 in GLVC action, and they tied for third.
 
The Panthers are currently 15th in NCAA Division II with a 1.92 ERA on the season. It ranks 25th in WHIP, and is striking out over a batter per inning. Offensively, the team is top-five in the league in scoring with 4.90 runs a game. The Panthers are fourth in the GLVC in batting and fifth in slugging percentage.
 
Kristina Bettis leads the team on the mound with a 1.28 ERA, a stat that is 22nd in NCAA Division II. She is top-11 nationally in strikeouts (234), hits allowed per seven innings (3.80), and wins (23). Offensively, Lauren Beier leads the team with 35 runs, seven home runs, and 28 RBI.
 
UIS and Drury ended the regular season by playing each other. The Panthers won both games by scores of 4-0 and 10-2.

Rest of the Field
The winner of the UIS/Drury contest will face the winner of the Indianapolis/Rockhurst matchup, with the two non-winners of those games also meeting in an elimination match. UIS is 4-10 against the seven other teams in the field, with a sweep over Maryville, splits against Indianapolis and Rockhurst, and two setbacks against Lindenwood, Missouri-St. Louis, Southern Indiana, and Drury.

Up Next
The winner of the tournament will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II National Tournament. That bracket will be announced on Monday morning.