Becker focuses on positives with her shaken Bulldogs

HOUSTON – The season is not over yet, and Ferris State University’s softball team is out to prove it still has a little bite behind the bark.

The Bulldogs dropped to the loser’s bracket and will face Lock Haven at 12:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon. The winner plays at 5:30 p.m. while the loser’s season comes to an end. Ferris head softball coach Keri Becker, seeking to take a little bit of the pressure off her Bulldogs and remind them that softball is still fun, put a smile on her face. Becker’s reminder came in spite of the 1-0 loss to 22nd-ranked St. Edward’s in round two of the 2008 NCAA Division II Women’s Softball National Championships.

“I put a smile on my face and put my head high,” Becker said. “We have to start walking with a swagger, again, as if we’re winning and we have to come out and play with that kind of a high level of confidence. I asked (the players) if they were up to the challenge and I told them that if they believe in themselves they can still do this … they can still come back.”

Becker also reminded the team that it takes a total team effort to get it done. The offense dried up for Ferris and Becker knows her team needs to rediscover its strength at the plate to keep its season alive.

“I told them this is championship time and anything can happen,” she said. “We were living on borrowed time with all of these 1-0 games and eventually that’s going to come back to get you if you don’t produce more runs. Holly (Bruntjens, a junior who allowed only three hits and the one run) pitched a great game, but we can’t keep relying so much on our pitchers. Our offense has got to come back to life and give us some production.”

Even without the Giles’ home run, the Bulldogs could not have won without a score.