Ferris State third baseman Makenzi Peterson puts the squeeze on a ball as she attempts to get an out against a sliding Saginaw Valley State runner. (Photo/Sandy Gholston)BIG RAPIDS - It's still early in the race for the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, but not too early to begin to track initial trends.
The early returns are somewhat interesting. Saginaw Valley State is the GLIAC leader at 6-0 entering the week (April 5). That is no surprise. Grand Valley State is 5-1. That is not a huge surprise. Ashland already has played 10 games and is 8-2. That also is no big surprise as the Eagles were expected to contend for the GLIAC championships and NCAA post-season action. Right now, the upper division of the league includes Northwood at 4-1. Wayne State is the fifth team with a winning conference record so far at 4-2.
Ferris State is 2-3 in league play with two of its three losses coming against Saginaw Valley and one coming against Northwood (game two of Saturday's series was made out and likely will be rescheduled at some point). Head coach Keri Becker's Bulldogs know this race will be an especially tight one from start to finish.
The early results this spring appear indicative of a conference race that will be hard fought from start to finish.
Having lost three games at home already, the Bulldogs need to go on the road and steal some victories while protecting their home diamond from here on out.
Ferris is scheduled to play in Midland at Northwood on Tuesday and that is as good a place as any to get started with some road success.
GLIAC Softball Standings (entering April 5)
| Team | GLIAC | ALL |
| Saginaw Valley | 6-0 | 19-2 |
| Grand Valley St. | 5-1 | 17-9 |
| Ashland | 8-2 | 18-6 |
| Northwood | 4-1 | 12-10 |
| Wayne St. | 4-2 | 26-7 |
| Ferris St. | 2-3 | 11-10 |
| Tiffin | 2-4 | 14-10 |
| Findlay | 1-5 | 11-17 |
| Hillsdale | 1-7 | 6-14 |
| Lake Superior St. | 0-8 | 5-25 |
No comments:
Post a Comment