FERRIS SOFTBALL PICKED FOURTH IN GLIAC PRESEASON COACHES' POLL

Rachel Chartier, a 2004 All-GLIAC Honorable Mention pick, leads the Ferris State pitching staff after compiling an 11-7 record with a 1.79 ERA last season.

The Ferris State University softball team was chosen to finish fourth with a 74 points total in the 2005 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Preseason Softball Coaches Poll, which was released today (Feb. 9).

The Bulldogs' voting points total was five behind third-place Ashland (79 points). Wayne State was tabbed to win the conference title as the Warriors claimed six of 11 possible first-place votes and 96 total points. Grand Valley State, the defending two-time (2002 and 2003) GLIAC Championships, garnered 92 points to go with five first-place votes.

Emily McLean earned second-team all-conference laurels a season ago as a result of registering a .308 batting average, 36 base hits and 19 RBI.

The conference's 11 head softball coaches ranked each of the GLIAC teams with points being awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Coaches weren't allowed to vote for their own team.

Ferris State returns 11 letterwinners from last season's team, which compiled a 24-21-1 overall record with a third-place 14-6 conference mark. Five of the returning letterwinners were starters a season ago, including a pair of all-conference performers in junior outfielder Emily McLean (Rogers City) and senior pitcher Rachel Chartier (Marquette). McLean received All-GLIAC Second-Team honors last spring while Chartier earned honorable mention all-league plaudits.

The 2005 GLIAC Tournament, scheduled for May 6-7, will feature a new format with the top eight of the conference's 11 teams participating in the double-elimination event at the Emerson Park Softball Complex in Midland, Mich.

Ferris, under eighth-year head coach Keri Becker, opens the 2005 campaign and its 33rd season of varsity competition at the Florida Rebel Spring Tournament, March 5-12 in Kissimmee, Fla. The Bulldogs' home opener will be March 30 versus Wayne State in a non-conference doubleheader at the FSU Varsity Softball Field in Big Rapids, Mich.

The 2005 GLIAC Preseason Softball Coaches Poll with first-place votes in parenthesis is as follows.

Rank Team (First-Place Votes) Points

1. Wayne State (6) 96

2. Grand Valley State (5) 92

3. Ashland 79

4. Ferris State 74

5. Gannon 58

6. Saginaw Valley State 55

7. Hillsdale 43

8. Findlay 36

9. Mercyhurst 31

10. Northwood 28

11. Lake Superior State 14