FERRIS RECEIVES AN AT-LARGE BID TO NCAA-II GREAT LAKES REGIONAL
 | Senior Melissa Worsley and the Bulldogs will be venturing to the Bluegrass State to take part in the 2005 NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region Tournament May 12-15. |
The Ferris State University softball team will be a part of the NCAA Division II Softball Tournament for the first time since 1999 as the Bulldogs have received an at-large bid to the 2005 NCAA-II Great Lakes Region Tournament in an announcement made today (May 9) by the NCAA-II Softball Committee.
Ferris State (30-18 overall), the 2005 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Overall Co-Champions and GLIAC Tourney Champs, was one of six teams to qualify for the double-elimination formatted Great Lakes Regional, which will be held May 12-15 at Northern Kentucky University's Frank Ignatius Grein Softball Field in Highland Heights, Ky.
Host Northern Kentucky (50-0 overall), the nation's top-ranked team and both the 2005 Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) regular-season and tournament champions, is the top seed while fellow GLVC member Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (40-13) is seeded second. West Virginia Wesleyan (41-16), the regular-season and tourney champions of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC), are the third seed with Ferris State earning the fourth seed. GLIAC Regular-Season and conference co-champion Northwood (31-12) and Gannon (32-16), also a GLIAC-affiliated member, are seeded fifth and sixth, respectively.
In the tournament's opening round this Thursday (May 12), Ferris will go up against Northwood at 10 a.m. (EDT) with the winner taking on Northern Kentucky at 3 p.m. (EDT). The other bracket has West Virginia Wesleyan squaring off against Gannon at 12:30 p.m. (EDT) and the winner of that contest will face Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at 5:30 p.m.
Tickets for the Great Lakes Regional may be purchased at the gate one hour prior to the start of each session (each day is a session) and one ticket is good for all day. General admission (per day) is $5 for adults and $3 for students/senior citizens and children.
The Bulldogs, under eighth-year head coach Keri Becker are making their fourth regional appearance in the program's history. Ferris State made its initial regional appearance in 1982 at the NCAA-II East Regional (May 14-15) in Stratford, Conn., and compiled a 2-2 mark. FSU then claimed its first NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional title in 1998 (May 8-9) at Ashland, Ohio, winning all three of its contests and eventually finishing third place at the NCAA-II National Championship Tournament (May 14-18) in Pensacola, Fla. Ferris then defended its Great Lakes Region crown in 1999 (May 14-15) at Allendale, Mich., by registering a 3-1 tourney mark and advanced for the second straight season to the NCAA-II National Championship Tournament (May 20-21) in Salem, Va., where the Bulldogs captured sixth-place honors.
2005 NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional Tournament Schedule
Thursday, May 12
Game 1 -- #5 Northwood vs. #4 Ferris State, 10 a.m.
Game 2 -- #6 Gannon vs. #3 West Virgina Wesleyan, 12:30 p.m.
Game 3 -- Winner G1 vs. #1 Northern Kentucky, 3 p.m.
Game 4 -- Winner G2 vs. #2 Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, 5:30 p.m.
Friday, May 13
Game 5 -- Loser G1 vs. Loser G4, 10 a.m.
Game 6 -- Loser G2 vs. Loser G3, 12:30 p.m.
Game 7 -- Winner G3 vs. Winner G4, 3 p.m.
Game 8 -- Winner G5 vs. Winner G6, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 14
Game 9 -- Loser G7 vs. Winner G8, 10 a.m.
Game 10 -- Winner G7 vs. Winner G9, 12:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 15
Game 11 -- Winner G10 vs. Loser G10, 12 p.m. (If Necessary)
All start times are Eastern and highest-seed is the home team
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