FERRIS SOFTBALL ANNOUNCES 2005 SEASON SCHEDULE

Diamond Dawgs Begin Season In Florida; Home Opener Set For March 30

Ferris State will embark on its 33rd season of varsity competition in the Sunshine State with 12 games from Feb. 5-12 at the Florida Rebel Spring Tournament in Kissimmee, Fla. The Diamond Dawgs will take on East Stroudsburg (Pa.) March 5 in the season opener before going up against another Pennsylvania school in California (Pa.) later in the day.

This season’s slate features a minimum of 37 opponents with six of those 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 square off against March 11 in Florida, is the highest-ranked opponent at third nationally while St. Cloud (Minn.) State (March 8) was tabbed fourth in the poll. Ferris State battles fifth-ranked Northern Kentucky on two occasions – the first at the Rebel Tourney on March 6 and then again March 25 at Battle Creek, Mich. FSU will also be involved in a pair of non-conference dates against 20th-ranked Lewis (Ill.) on March 19 in Joliet, Ill. Grand Valley State, a fellow GLIAC , is ranked 14th nationally in the preseason poll and will host the Bulldogs in a conference twinbill April 9 at Allendale, Mich.

“Our main goal is to bring home the GLIAC Trophy this spring,” said eighth-year FSU head coach Keri Becker, the school’s all-time winningest coach. “I believe this goal is realistic and we have set up a schedule which will prepare us to do so.

“The month of March brings us face to face with three of the eight Elite 8 teams from last season and we also have two weekends of competitive regional tournament play. Not only does this thoroughly prepare us for our conference play but also can put us in a position to become a contender for a postseason bid to compete in the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional,” added Becker.

Along with the annual Florida trip, Ferris will participate in the Lewis Tournament, March 19-20, at Joliet, Ill., with a pair of non-league encounters each day and then take part the following weekend, March 25-26, in the annual Great Lakes Region Showdown at Battle Creek, Mich. The tournament, which will feature five scheduled contests, pits GLIAC teams against Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) schools primarily for regional ranking purposes.

The Diamond Dawgs are scheduled to play six nationally-ranked preseason teams this campaign.

Ferris State, which has eight home dates on this season’s schedule, will make its home debut March 30 against Wayne State in a non-conference doubleheader at the FSU Varsity Softball Field in Big Rapids. Game one is scheduled for a 3 p.m. (EST) start time. The Diamond Dawgs then begin GLIAC action with three consecutive home doubleheaders in as many days, starting with Northwood April 1 and Lake Superior State on April 2. The eight-game homestand concludes April 3 versus Saginaw Valley State. The remainder of the home opponents include Cornerstone (April 19), Findlay (April 22), Ashland (April 23) and Wisconsin-Parkside (April 25).

The final regular-season games for Ferris will be a pair of conference outings at Wayne State (April 29) and at Hillsdale (April 30).

The top eight finishers of the 11 conference teams will participate in the annual GLIAC Tournament, which will be held May 6-8 in Midland, Mich. Seeding for the double-elimination tourney will be determined by each team’s regular-season league performance.

Ferris returns 11 letterwinners from last season’s team which posted a 24-21-1 overall record and placed third in the GLIAC final standings with a 14-6 league mark.