CHALLENGING 2004 FSU SOFTBALL SEASON SCHEDULE AWAITS
 | Senior Dana Conklin and the Bulldogs will open their 2004 season in the Sunshine State with a March 7 twinbill at Florida Tech. |
The Ferris State University softball team is busy making preparations for a competitive 2004 campaign as the Bulldogs will face a number of quality teams throughout its season schedule.
This season's slate features contests against seven teams either ranked in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II Preseason Top 25 Poll or among those receiving votes in the national poll. Shippensburg (Pa.), who the Bulldogs will tangle with March 8 in Florida, is the highest-ranked opponent at sixth nationally. A pair of fellow Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) members, Wayne State and Grand Valley State are listed eighth and 11th, respectively. FSU will face Wayne State twice (March 30 and April 10) during the season and entertains GVSU in the final regular-season conference contest (April 24).
Ferris will begin its 32nd season of varsity competition in Florida where the Bulldogs will go up against Florida Tech, March 7, in the season opener at Melbourne, Fla. Following the non-conference doubleheader, FSU will then play 10 teams over a five-day period at the Florida Rebel Spring Games Tournament in Kissimmee, Fla.
"As always, our goal of playing a tough early season schedule is to prepare us for the challenging play the GLIAC will bring," said FSU head coach Keri Becker, who begins her seventh year at Ferris State this spring as the program's all-time winningest head coach.
Along with the trip to Florida, the Bulldogs will compete in the annual Great Lakes Region Showdown, March 26-28, at South Bend, Ind. The tournament pits the teams from the GLIAC against Great Lakes Valley (GLVC) schools primarily for regional ranking purposes.
FSU begins GLIAC play on the road Saturday, April 3, at Ashland before visiting Findlay the following day, April 4. Ferris, which features nine home dates this spring, hosts Aquinas on March 31 in its home opener. Hillsdale will represent the Bulldogs' home league opening opponent as the Chargers visit the FSU Varsity Softball Field on April 9.
The Bulldogs return 11 letterwinners from last season's 18-29-1 squad, highlighted by a pair of seniors at the infield corner positions in first baseman Nicki Merchant, an All-GLIAC Second-Team selection and third baseman Dana Conklin, who garnered honorable mention all-conference recognition.
"Our experience, leadership and talented newcomers should allow us to be successful in our climb back to the top," said Becker.
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