FERRIS PREDICTED SIXTH IN GLIAC SOFTBALL PRESEASON POLL

Senior first baseman Nicki Merchant, an all-conference second-team pick a year ago, figures to be a key component in Ferris State's success on the diamond this season. The Bulldogs were tabbed sixth in the GLIAC Softball Coaches Preseason Poll.

The 2004 Ferris State University softball team has been selected to finish sixth in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Preseason Softball Coaches Poll, which was released today (Feb. 17). The voting was conducted by each of the GLIAC's 11 coaches who weren't allowed to rank their own squad.

Ferris State received 50 points in being chosen sixth while Findlay was one placing above the Bulldogs with 52 points. Grand Valley State was picked to repeat as conference champions as the Lakers received seven of 11 possible first-place votes and 106 total points. GVSU was the 2003 league preseason favorite and went on to capture the conference title. Placing second was Wayne State with three first-place votes and 90 points while Ashland was selected third with one first-place vote and 86 points.

Ferris, which compiled an 18-29-1 overall mark and went 6-10 in the GLIAC for 2003, welcomes back 11 letterwinners from a season ago. Seven of the returning letterwinners were starters last year, including a pair of senior all-conference performers in first baseman Nicki Merchant and third baseman Dana Conklin. A All-GLIAC Second-Team selection, Merchant registered a career-best .286 batting average last season on a team-leading 42 base hits with nine home runs and 26 RBIs, both team highs. Conklin earned all-conference honorable mention plaudits last spring as a result of hitting a career-high .262 with one homer and 20 RBI. She picked up second-team All-GLIAC accolades in 2002.

This upcoming season also represents the return of seventh-year head coach Keri Becker, who missed the entire 2003 campaign due to active United States Army duty in support of Operation Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. Becker, the winningest coach in the program's 31-year history with 201 career victories, was honored as the GLIAC's Coach of the Year in 2003 for the second time (1997) in her coaching career.

FSU throws out its first pitch of the 2004 season March 7 against Florida Tech in a non-league doubleheader at Melbourne, Fla. Ferris State will then participate in the Florida Rebel Spring Games Tournament, March 8-13, at Kissimmee, Fla.

The 2004 GLIAC Softball Coaches Preseason Poll with first-place votes in parenthesis is as follows.

Rank Team (First-Place Votes) Points

1. Grand Valley State (7) 106

2. Wayne State (3) 90

3. Ashland (1) 86

4. Gannon 69

5. Findlay 52

6. Ferris State 50

7. Saginaw Valley State 47

8. Hillsdale 45

9. Northwood 39

10. Mercyhurst 15

11. Lake Superior State 14