Teams Likely To Be Even More Disappointed When NCAA Tournament Field Announced

BIG RAPIDS - Ferris State University and some other Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference softball teams hurt by the cancellation of the tournament are unlikely to be less disappointed Monday morning when the NCAA Tournament pairings are announced.

The top eight teams in each NCAA Division II region will qualify for NCAA Tournament. From those top eight teams, the top two from each each region will serve as sub-regional tournament hosts on May 14-16. The winners of the sub-regional play in the super regional (May 21-22) with the punching tickets to the 2010 NCAA-II Softball Championships (May 27-31) at Heritage Park in St. Joseph, Mo. The eight NCAA Division II regions are the Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West.

The selections are set to be announced on Monday, May 10, at 10 a.m. on the Web at NCAA.com.

Ferris and Northwood University were among the teams playing good softball during the season (perhaps better ball than some teams ranked among them in the regional rankings).

As a side note, on Sunday (May 9), Lewis University won the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament courtesy of a 7-5 win over Northern Kentucky University.

In the most recent regional rankings, Ferris was ranked 10th.

Here are the regional rankings as of May 1:

Midwest Region	Division II	In-Region
1. Wayne State (Mich.)	45-10	32-7
2. Ashland	33-11	32-9
3. Indianapolis	34-13	29-7
4. Lewis	28-12	25-8
5. Saginaw Valley State	24-14	20-13
6. Quincy	35-13	32-11
7. Tiffin	31-16	29-13
8. Northern Kentucky	31-16	30-15
9. Northwood	23-17	21-14
10. Ferris State	26-16	24-13

Ferris Remains 10th In Regional Rankings

BIG RAPIDS - Ferris State University has held steady in the most recent listing (April 19) of the NCAA Division II Midwest Region Rankings for softball.

The Bulldogs of head coach Keri Becker remain

ed 10th in the poll (the top eight at the end of the season will advance to the NCAA Division II Tournament). This poll shows that Ferris remains in striking distance for a bid to the NCAA Tournament with some key doubleheaders and the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament in Midland in early May.

Ferris is 20-14 overall and 11-7 in the GLIAC following Wednesday's 2-1 home loss at the FSU Softball Field to Northwood University. The Bulldogs hope to get on a roll beginning this weekend with showdowns against two of the better teams in the GLIAC, the region and the nation. Ferris is on the road to face nationally-ranked Saginaw Valley State University (17th) and nationally-ranked Wayne State University (ninth) in a pair of doubleheaders. The Warriors are first in the region while Saginaw Valley is third.

This is a perfect weekend for the Bulldogs to get on a roll as they are at Saginaw Valley on Saturday and at Wayne State on Sunday. If Ferris can come away with wins this weekend it can greatly strengthen its position in the regional tournament at the time of the year when it wants to be playing its best basketball.

Midwest Region	Division II	In-Region
1. Wayne State (Mich.)	37-8	24-5
2. Ashland	26-10	25-8
3. Saginaw Valley State	19-7	15-6
4. Lewis	23-9	20-5
5. Indianapolis	27-12	22-6
6. Quincy	27-10	24-8
7. Northern Kentucky	24-13	23-12
8. Tiffin	22-15	20-12
9. Northwood	16-11	14-8
10. Ferris State	18-13	16-10

PHOTO CAPTION:

Ferris State's Dana Bowler has already paid dividends in her freshman season pitching for the Bulldogs. (Photo/Sandy Gholston)