May 7, 2008

By Kyle Herm
www.SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois softball team (30-23, 15-8 MVC) will be the No. 3 seed, and serve as the host of the 2008 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament May 8-10 at Charlotte West Stadium. The Salukis will play at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday against the winner of the No. 7 Missouri State and No. 6 Evansville game.

This will be the third time in the program's history that SIU has hosted the conference tournament. Southern Illinois hosted the league championship in 1990, and in the second year of Charlotte West Stadium, Rochman Field, in 2004.

SIU, which finished third in the final regular-season conference standings, enters the tournament with a three-game winning streak after sweeping its final series at Bradley this past weekend. The Salukis have also won six out of their last eight games after going 6-2 on their regular-season ending eight-game road trip.

Southern Illinois won both of its series during the season against its two potential opponents. SIU defeated Missouri State two games to one in Springfield, Mo. (April 26-27), and took two out of three against Evansville (April 9 & 16).

The Salukis hold an all-time record of 37-45 in the tournament, and made it to the championship game last season as the No. 3 seed. They also made it all the way to the championship game the last time they hosted the tournament in 2004.

Live video and audio will be available for every game leading up to the championship game, which will air live on FSN Midwest, FSN Indiana, FSN Kansas City, and Fox College Sports at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 10. The championship game will also air via tape-delay on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet Chicago.

For more information, including links to the video and audio of the games, visit the tournament central Web page at the link below.

Tournament Central