NORMAL, Ill. – For the third time in program history, Illinois State will serve as host to the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Softball Tournament at Marian Kneer Stadium May 11-13. After clinching a share of the regular season title, the No. 2-seed Redbirds will face the winner of game four in the semifinal round at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Â
MVC Tournament Central // Bracket // Tickets // MVC Release // Notes // ESPN3
With a 20-6 Missouri Valley Conference record, the Valley regular season champion Illinois State softball team earned the No. 2 seed in the MVC Tournament. The Redbirds begin play on Friday, May 12 at 6:30 p.m. in the semifinal round. The championship game takes place on Saturday at 1 p.m. with the winner receiving an automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA Softball Tournament.
The Redbirds, who shared the league's regular season title with Northern Iowa, lost the tournament-seeding tiebreaker as the Panthers won the series during the regular season. Both teams finished with 20-6 MVC records to earn shares of the regular season title.
The 2017 regular season MVC title is the first for the Redbirds since 2011. The Redbirds' 20-6 league record is the second-best Valley record in Illinois State program history. The Redbirds wrapped up the regular season with a 30-20 overall mark.
The Redbirds own a 13-6 record against the 2017 MVC field with sweeps over Evansville, Drake, Missouri State, and Loyola. ISU won the series 2-1 at Wichita State and dropped both series to Southern Illinois and Northern Iowa at home.
Illinois State will serve as host to the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Softball Championship May 11 to 13 at Marian Kneer Stadium. Fans can purchase all-session passes for $20. Single-session tickets prices are $10 for adults and $5 for youth. Tickets can also be purchased at the gates of Marian Kneer Stadium on game day.
Courtesy of ISU's Division of Student Affairs, 100 free student tickets are available and can be picked up at the ISU Athletics Ticket Office.
To purchase tickets visit GoRedbirds.com/Tickets, call (309) 438-8000, or visit the Illinois State Athletics Ticket Office at the north entrance of Redbird Arena.
For updates on Illinois State Softball, follow the Redbirds on Twitter and Instagram.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
