Field Set for 2011 Horizon League Softball Championship

2011 Horizon League Softball Championship Bracket

INDIANAPOLIS – With a 2-0 shutout of Detroit on Sunday, Loyola University Chicago claimed the Horizon League regular season title, and with it, the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Horizon League Softball Championship.  The tournament will be hosted by Loyola, running from May 11-14.

Loyola (26-24, 16-7 Horizon) entered the weekend needing to record the road sweep of Detroit and receive some help in order to clinch the top spot.  When Valparaiso (32-19, 15-7 Horizon) knocked off Cleveland State (28-19, 13-8 Horizon), 4-2, in the first of two games on Sunday, the Ramblers recorded their fifth regular season title in the last 11 years.

One of the top pitching staffs in the League carried Loyola to the regular season crown, as the Ramblers enter the postseason with a 2.65 ERA, while limiting opposing batters to a .230 batting average.  Loyola is 10-4 at the Loyola Softball Park in 2011, where they will host the tournament.

Valparaiso claimed the No. 2 seed in the championships after sweeping a two-game set from Cleveland State, who will take the fourth seed in the tournament.

Butler (28-22, 14-8 Horizon) did not play over the weekend, but brings the best ERA (1.99) and opponents batting average (.229) to Chicago.  UIC (21-21, 11-9 Horizon) dropped a series at Wright State (26-27, 13-11), but the Flames remained immediately ahead of the Raiders in the final standings, with the teams finishing fifth and sixth, respectively.

The top two seeds in the tournament, Loyola and Valparaiso each earned byes to the second day of the championship.  In the first game of the League championship, No. 4 Cleveland State takes on fifth-seeded UIC on Wednesday, May 11, at 12 p.m. ET.  The Vikings and Flames split an abbreviated two-game series in April.  The victor moves on to take on host Loyola on Thursday at 12 p.m. ET.

In Wednesday’s second game, No. 3 Butler meets sixth-seeded Wright State at 2:30 p.m. ET.  The Raiders swept the Bulldogs in the regular season, taking three consecutive walk-off wins.  The winner will advance to play Valparaiso, with the loser meeting the Cleveland State-UIC loser at 5 p.m. ET later that day.

HorizonLeague.com will carry all games on Friday and Saturday, with the League Championship slated to begin at 1 p.m. ET on May 14.  If necessary, a second contest will be played at 3 p.m. ET to decide the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.