Ferris State To Face GVSU Friday Afternoon In NCAA Regional Tourney

Click Here For Official Midwest Region Bracket (PDF)

Big Rapids, Mich. - Official game times have been set for the Ferris State University softball team's appearance in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament hosted by Grand Valley State in Allendale this weekend (May 10-12).

The seventh-seeded Bulldogs and the number two-seeded Lakers will square off on Friday (May 10) at 2:30 p.m. (ET) in the second game of the four-team regional event.  The Midwest Region's third seed, Missouri-St. Louis, faces sixth-seeded Southern Indiana in the opener at 12 p.m. (ET).

The Midwest Regional #2 tournament hosted by GVSU will be a double-elimination format with each team guaranteed to play on both Friday and Saturday.  The first-round winners meet on Saturday morning (May 11) at 11 a.m. (ET) with the losers squaring off against each other in an elimination contest at 1:30 p.m. (ET).

The title round is set for Sunday (May 12) starting at noon at the GVSU Softball Field.

In addition to the regional event hosted by Grand Valley State, the region's top overall seed, nationally top-ranked Indianapolis, will also host a four-team regional over the weekend. The Greyhounds face Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament champion and eighth-seeded Wayne State in round one with fourth-seeded Lewis (Ill.) and fifth-seeded Ashland also in the Indianapolis sub-region.

The winners of this weekend's two four-team regional tournaments will advance to the NCAA Midwest Super Regionals set for May 17-18 at the site of the highest remaining seed for a best-of-three showdown. The winner of the super regional then moves on to the NCAA Elite Eight set for May 23-27 at the Moyer Complex in Salem, Va.

The Bulldogs have advanced to the NCAA Tournament seven previous times with FSU's last appearance in 2009 representing its fourth trip over a five-year span.  Ferris State reached the title game of the sub-Midwest Regional Touranment in '09. Previously, Ferris State won back-to-back Great Lakes Regional Tourney titles in 1998 and 1999 before winning the regional again in 2008.  Overall, the Bulldogs have made previous NCAA appearances in 1982, 1998, 1999, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009.

FSU owns a 29-14 overall record to date this year and placed second behind GVSU in GLIAC regular-season action with a 20-6 overall record under first-year head coach Marie Foster.

Meanwhile, the Lakers are currently 39-6 overall this campaign and posted a first-place 24-2 league record.  Earlier this year, Grand Valley State swept the Bulldogs in two close regular-season meetings by scores of 4-2 and 1-0 in Allendale on April 7.  GVSU was ranked ninth in last week's Division II national poll and earned GLIAC Tournament runner-up honors this past weekend in Findlay, Ohio.

Below are the game times for the GVSU regional:

Friday, May 10
Game 1 - #3 Missouri-St. Louis (39-11) vs. #6 Southern Indiana (29-20), 12:00 p.m.
Game 2 - #2 Grand Valley State (39-6) vs. #7 Ferris State (29-14), 2:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 11
Game 3 - Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 11:00 a.m.
Game 4 - Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 1:30 p.m.
Game 5 - Loser of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4, 4:00 p.m.

Sunday, May 12
Game 6 (Championship game) - Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5, 12:00 p.m.
Game 7 (Championship game, if necessary) - Same teams as above, 2:30 p.m.