FERRIS SOFTBALL FACES NORTHWOOD AT GLIAC TOURNAMENT

Bulldogs Land No. 7 Seed and Play League Co-Champions In First-Round Contest

Senior outfielder Emily McLean and Ferris State will face GLIAC Co-Champion Northwood in the opening round of the 2006 GLIAC Tournament this weekend (May 5-6). The Bulldogs won the conference tourney last season.

The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) announced the pairings of the 2006 GLIAC Softball Tournament today (May 1) and the Ferris State University softball team will take on the 2006 regular-season conference co-champions Northwood Timberwolves this Friday (May 5) morning in opening-round play at Midland, Mich.

The contest, which is scheduled for a 9 a.m. (EDT) start, will be held at Currie Stadium in the Emerson Park Complex.

Ferris State, coached by Keri Becker, is seeded No. 7 in the conference tourney while Northwood (36-13 overall and 15-5 in the GLIAC) is the No. 2 seed. The winner of the Ferris State-Northwood contest will advance to play the winner of No. 3 seed Gannon and No. 6 seed Hillsdale. Wayne State, which shared this year's conference title with Northwood, has earned the No. 1 seed and square off against No. 8 seed Saginaw Valley State in the double-elimination tourney. The championship game will be held this Saturday (May 6) at 12:30 p.m. (EDT) and the overall GLIAC Champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional Tournament (May 11-14) at a site yet to be determined.

The Bulldogs will bring a 26-24 overall record into this season's tournament and have won nine of their last 13 outings to date. Ferris posted a sixth-place tying 10-10 conference mark this spring.

FSU captured the 2005 GLIAC Tournament title with a 3-0 championship game victory over Northwood (May 7) and claimed a share of the overall GLIAC Championship crown in the process. The Bulldogs earned a post-season tourney berth and made their fourth NCAA Division II Regional Tournament appearance in the program's history. Ferris finished the 2005 campaign at 31-20 overall and 13-7 in the GLIAC. This season represents the second consecutive year in which only the top eight of the GLIAC's 11 teams will qualify for the GLIAC Softball Tournament. The criteria is based upon each team's regular-season conference record. The 1985 season marked the conference's first-ever post-season softball tournament.