May 7, 2011

Contact: Brian McCann

VALPARAISO, Ind. - Mother Nature has wreaked havoc with the Viking softball schedule again as the first game of the three game series with the Crusaders has been suspended in the bottom of the fourth inning with Valpo leading 4-0. Play will resume on Sunday at 12:00 noon CDT (1:00 p.m. in Cleveland.

Play was delayed at 2:00 p.m. CDT time when lightning in the area mandated a stoppage. The rain started and lasted for almost 90 minutes, at which time the Valparaiso grounds crew attempted to make the field ready for play.

At 5:00 p.m. CDT, play was scheduled to resume but the officiating crew determined that the field was unplayable and suspended play for the day.

Because of league rules, the game will pick up where it was suspended when the two teams meet on Sunday. After finishing that game, the teams will play a second game. The third game of the series has been canceled because league rules do not permit teams to play three games in one day.

With Loyola winning two games at Detroit on Saturday, the league championship race became clearer. If the Vikings can come back and win both games, then they will claim the regular season crown. If CSU splits the two games on Sunday, then the Vikings will claim the No. 2 seed in next week's tourney and receive a first round bye. If Loyola were to also lose the third game of its series with Detroit, than CSU would win the regular season crown.

If CSU were to lose both games on Sunday, then the Vikings will earn the No. 4 seed in the tourney and face fifth-seeded UIC on Wednesday with the tourney being played at Loyola. Valparaiso could claim a share of the league title if it sweeps CSU and the Loyola-Detroit game is canceled, but the Ramblers own the tie-breaker over Valpo by virtue of winning two of the three games in the season series.