SIUE earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Softball Tournament with a convincing 12-1 victory in six innings in the 2014 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship game in Jacksonville, Ala.
The Cougars (30-21) became the first SIUE team to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament in the Division I era. The Cougars will play Alabama in Tuscaloosa at 6 p.m. Friday. on ESPN3. South Carolina Upstate and South Alabama round out the regional.
“We’re extremely, extremely excited,” said SIUE Head Coach Sandy Montgomery.
SIUE went undefeated in the OVC Tournament behind the arm of left-hander Haley Chambers and a barrage of home runs. The Cougars hit seven homers in three games at University Field after hitting just nine during the regular season.
Chambers led SIUE’s contingent on the All-Tournament team and was named the Most Valuable Player after going 3-0 and improving her season record to 18-13.
Third baseman Alex McDavid, first baseman Kayla Riggs, and shortstop Chelsea Yankolovich also were selected to the All-Tournament team.
The OVC Tournament dealt with two straight days of rain. It washed out the tournament completely Friday and most of Saturday. Tournament officials eliminated the consolation bracket and deemed that two teams left in the winner’s bracket would play a winner-take-all game.
Having not played since Thursday afternoon, the Cougars were more than anxious to take the field.
“We were itching to play all day,” said Chambers. “We wanted this win. We wanted to get back at Murray State, because they swept us this season. We wanted to prove that we deserved to be out here, and we deserved to get this win.”
Photo: SIUE 2014 Ohio Valley Conference softball champions.