TOURNAMENT GAME NOTES

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Lewis opens the 2011 Great Lakes Valley Conference Baseball Tournament on Thursday against Quincy at noon. Lewis is the No. 5 seed while Quincy is the No. 4 seed. The Flyers will play at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Ill.

OVERALL WINS: The Flyers have won 20 or more games for three consecutive seasons. The last time Lewis did so was from 2000 to 2002.

BACK-TO-BACK: Thanks to last season's trip to the GLVC Tournament, Lewis has qualified for the GLVC Tournament in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1997.

LOOKING FOR A WIN: The last time Lewis won a game in the GLVC Tournament was 2002.

GLVC POTW: Lewis has earned three GLVC weekly honors this season. Tom Helwich (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln Way Central) was named GLVC Pitcher of the Week on April 4. Mike Bolling (Chicago, Ill./Guerin Prep) was named the GLVC Player of the Week on April 11. Richard Forkin (Orland Park, Ill./Lockport) also earned All-GLVC Player of the Week honors on March 7.

TRENDING TOPIC: The 2011 season will mark the third consecutive season Lewis' team ERA will decrease. Lewis enters the GLVC Tournament with a 3.83 team ERA, an improvement over 2010's 5.03, 2009's 5.80 and 2008's 6.46.

TRENDING TOPIC 2: Lewis' team batting will improve for a second consecutive season. Lewis has a .311 team batting average entering the tournament. In 2010 Lewis batted .290 while the Flyers had a .260 average in 2009.

RUNNIN' FLYERS: Mike Bolling (Chicago, Ill./Guerin Prep) led the GLVC in stolen bases with 29. Stealing bases is a trend in Romeoville as Jayme Helfer of the Lewis softball team has a GLVC best 37.

MR. TOUGH GUY: Richard Forkin (Orland Park, Ill./Lockport) is sixth toughest player to strikeout in the nation. He fanned just five times in 148 at bats this season.

SLULGGING THOMAS: Freshman Kyle Thomas (Homer Glen, Ill./Providence Catholic) has 26 hits on the season. Almost half have gone for extra bases. He has seven doubles, four home runs and a triple to compile a .485 slugging percentage.