EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The University of Evansville softball team will travel to Carbondale, Illinois for the 2008 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference softball championships. The Aces picked up the sixth seed and will match up with the seventh-seeded Missouri State Bears on Thursday at Charlotte West Stadium.

The Aces and Bears met in the regular season with the Bears taking two of three at Cooper Stadium. Krista Price was the hero in the first game with a walk-off home run to give the Aces a 3-2 win. The Bears rallied back in the second game to get two runs in the seventh inning en route to a 4-1 victory. The Aces led for the majority of the last game but the Bears put up three runs in the seventh to tie the game and eventually won 5-3 in eight innings.

The Aces have won five of their last six games, including their last five conference games. Senior Jacki Bradley picked up two shutouts and a save over Indiana State this weekend. Bradley has not allowed an earned run in her last four appearances and has only walked two batters in her last ten games. Offensively, Brittany Herald leads the Aces into the tournament hitting .400 with nine home runs and 31 RBI. Herald’s .400 average landed her the MVC batting title and is the second best average in a single-season at UE.

The Aces (25-20, 11-12) and Bears (25-21, 11-13) will face off at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday at Charlotte West Stadium. The winner will take on Southern Illinois at 6:30 p.m. Live stats for all tournament games will be available on GameTracker.


2008 State Farm MVC Tournament Schedule

Thursday, May 8
#5 Wichita State vs. #8 Indiana State - 11 a.m.
#7 Missouri State vs. #6 Evansville - 1:30 p.m.
Winner of Game 1 vs. #4 Drake - 4 p.m.
Winner of Game 2 vs. #3 Southern Illinois - 6:30 p.m

Friday, May 9
#1 Creighton vs. Winner of Game 3 - 12 p.m.
#2 Illinois State vs. Winner of Game 4 - 2:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 10
Championship game - 1:30 p.m.