Although the rivalry between the two schools’ softball programs pales in comparison to that of men’s basketball, there is some tension when the Bearcats and Cougars clash on the diamond.

"That’s just the way it is," said McKendree softball coach Evelyn Bean. "When you have the same teams year in and year out playing as hard as McKendree and Columbia College do, it’s just natural that our competitive drives go up each time we play each other."

Starting the year with a split against McKendree, the Cougars hit a snag early in the season, including a rare three-game losing streak, and struggled defensively because of inexperience and injuries.

Columbia College (30-14, 7-3 AMC) has found a way to win late in the season. But because of the early-season loss to McKendree (27-14, 8-2) and two other conference losses, the Cougars have the No. 2 seed in the tournament, while the Bearcats take the top spot.

"I think we’ve come a long way this year," Columbia coach Wendy Spratt said. "We have a very, very young team. We worked out some kinks we had over the course of the year and we’re finally playing consistently."

The team is on a season-high five game winning streak, thanks in part to the strong pitching performance of sophomore Renea Vest, who has pitched four of the five games since all-conference ace Jayne Miller went down last week with a back injury.

First baseman Katie Dooley has been asked to serve as an emergency pitcher, winning a game in last weekend’s Iowa Wesleyan University Tournament. Former Cougar pitcher Stephanie Ricketts, who played the last two years, will rejoin the team for the conference tournament.

Miller has been resting since injuring her back on her first pitch against Missouri Baptist on April 17, and she will find out whether she will be healthy enough to play in the conference tournament after seeing a doctor today.

"We really stepped it up on defense this past weekend with Renea having to pitch so many games, and I thought we played very well behind her," Spratt said. "I think we’re ready to go."

The likely first-round opponent for No. 16 Columbia College is William Woods (29-16, 7-3), the No. 3 seed in the tournament which split the season series with the Cougars. Columbia College will face the WWU-Hannibal-LaGrange winner.

The Owls are led by reigning AMC Pitcher of the Week Andrea Smithee, a freshman right-hander who leads the conference with a miniscule 0.75 ERA. Smithee recently had a seven-inning no-hitter against McKendree.

"That’s an off-speed pitcher that we have struggled with," Spratt said of Smithee. "I think at this point we really worked a lot on that and faced that kind of pitching a little bit more."

The Owls also have strong hitters in Jessica Mackey and Jessia Hruby.

No. 13 McKendree has assembled a dominant defensive infield - four players have a 1.000 fielding average - and a pair of veteran pitchers in junior Mindy Jameson (1.15 ERA, third in AMC) and Amie Touchette (1.48 ERA, fifth in AMC). Touchette pitched a perfect game, recording 13 of a possible 15 outs by strikeout in a five-inning game against Martin Luther College on April 22.

"Pitching has been our strongest suit all season," Bean said. "We have had quite a few one-hitters and a perfect game, and it’s rare to see that kind of performance. We know we can win, and we come in with the attitude that we are the better team that is always striving for perfection. We lead the conference in defense, and we do not make many mistakes behind our pitching."

The winner of the AMC Tournament receives an automatic bid into the NAIA Region V tournament, which will decide the finalists for the NAIA nationals. Because of its high national ranking and strong non-conference schedule, Columbia College is likely to receive an at-large bid into the Region V tournament, but Spratt would rather not leave anything to chance.

"We have to hope McKendree wins if we don’t," she said. "We hope that we’re one of the two at-large bids, but there are a lot of teams out there that believe they are deserving."