Wichita State softball waits on Evansville or Loyola in MVC Tournament
Wichita State’s path to a second straight NCAA softball berth starts on Friday and will require a doubleheader sweep.
The fourth-seeded Shockers (31-19) open at 11 a.m. Friday in Normal, Ill. WSU will play either fifth-seeded Evansville (20-32) or eighth-seeded Loyola (26-25).
Evansville and Loyola play at 11 a.m. Thursday. Should the Shockers win, they face top-seeded Northern Iowa (32-18) at 4 p.m.
WSU is coming off a weekend sweep of Evansville, winning 4-3 in 12 innings, 5-0 and 5-0. It won two of three games at Loyola and held the Ramblers to three runs and 15 hits in the series.
Northern Iowa defeated the Shockers 9-7 and 5-1 in late April in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Hamilton finds a new team — Men’s basketball player Eric Hamilton, who played two seasons at Wichita State, said in a text message that he committed to North Carolina-Greensboro. Hamilton, a 6-foo-8 forward from Atlanta, played in 47 games and averaged 2.2 points and 1.5 rebounds.
Greensboro is coached by Wes Miller and plays in the Southern Conference. It went 25-10 and played in the NIT last season.
Paul Suellentrop: 316-269-6760, @paulsuellentrop
MVC TOURNAMENT
At Normal, Ill.
Thursday’s Games
Evansville (20-32) vs. Loyola (26-25), 11 a.m.
Missouri St. (22-25) vs. Drake (28-26), 1:30 p.m.
Friday’s Games
Wichita St. (31-19) vs. Loyola-Evansville winner, 11 a.m.
S. Illinois (30-22) vs. MSU-Drake winner, 1:30 p.m.
N. Iowa (32-18) vs. 11 a.m. winner, 4 p.m.
1:30 p.m. winner at Illinois St. (30-20), 6:30 p.m.
Saturday’s Game
Semifinal winners, 1 p.m.
This story was originally published May 7, 2017 at 8:00 PM with the headline "Wichita State softball waits on Evansville or Loyola in MVC Tournament."