Time & Format Change Announced For GLIAC Softball Tourney - FSU Now Plays Saturday At 4 pm
Big Rapids, Mich. - Due to weather-related conditions and expected rain, the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) has adjusted the format and times for this weekend's league postseason tournament in Findlay, Ohio.
The event has been changed from a double-elimination format to a single-elimination event that will include a best-of-three finals. The tournament will now take place starting Saturday afternoon and running thru Sunday (May 6-7) rather than the previously slated three-day format.
Ferris State, which is the number seven overall seed for the event, will now take the field for its first game on Saturday (May 6) against second-seeded Wayne State starting at 4 p.m. (ET). With a win, the Bulldogs would also play again at 6 p.m. on Saturday evening in the semifinals.
FSU, under interim head coach Adam Kirkpatrick, has presently won four of its last six games overall this season. The Bulldogs' opponent, Wayne State, concluded the regular season at 36-12 overall along with a second-place 15-7 conference mark.
Comprising the eight-team tourney field are Grand Valley State, Wayne State, Saginaw Valley State, Ohio Dominican, Ashland, Hillsdale, FSU and Findlay in seeding order. GVSU claimed the top overall seed after winning the GLIAC regular-season crown.
The winner of the GLIAC Tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament (May 12-14) at a campus site to be announced.
Ferris State has won two conference tournaments (2000 and 2005) in the program's history to date. The Bulldogs have registered a 18-16 record (.533) in GLIAC Tournament play since 2005. This year's berth will represent FSU's second consecutive trip to the league tournament after the Bulldogs last year made their first showing since 2013.
The 2017 season represents the 13th consecutive year in which only the top eight of the conference's current softball playing institutions qualify for the GLIAC Tournament. The criteria is based upon each team's regular-season conference record. The 1985 campaign marked the league's first-ever postseason tournament in softball.
Stay tuned to FerrisStateBulldogs.com and @FerrisAthletics on twitter for updates if needed throughout the weekend.
The complete conference tournament central website can be found at this link:
GLIAC Tourney Bracket/Info
Below is the updated GLIAC Tournament Schedule:
| 2017 GLIAC SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT (SINGLE ELIMINATION) - FINDLAY, OHIO | ||
| SATURDAY, MAY 6 |
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| G1 (2) | 2:00 PM | No. 1 Grand Valley State vs. No. 8 Findlay |
| G2 (5) | 2:00 PM |
No. 4 Ohio Dominican vs. No. 5 Ashland |
| G3 (2) | 4:00 PM |
No. 2 Wayne State vs. No. 7 Ferris State |
| G4 (5) | 4:00 PM |
No. 3 Saginaw Valley vs. No. 6 Hillsdale |
| G5 (2) | 6:00 PM | G1 Winner vs. G2 Winner |
| G6 (5) | 6:00 PM | G3 Winner vs. G4 Winner |
| (2) - Games played on Anderson Field #2; (5) - Games played on Iriti Field #5 | ||
| SUNDAY, MAY 7 | BEST-OF-3 CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND |
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| G7 (2) | 10:00 AM | G5 Winner vs. G6 Winner |
| G8 (2) | 12:00 PM | -- |
| G9 (2) | 2:00 PM | (if necessary) |
| * There will be a minimum of 30 minutes between games when one or both teams have to play back-to-back games |
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