May 4, 2006

The Wayne State University softball team (29-22 overall) heads into this weekend's Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) tournament ranked fifth in the Great Lakes Region according to this weeks NCAA rankings.

The Warriors are the No. 1 seed for the GLIAC tournament and begin play at 11 a.m. on Friday versus the No. 8 seeded Saginaw Valley Cardinals. The double elimination tournament starts at 9 a.m. with two contests (#7-Ferris State vs. #2-Northwood and #6-Hillsdale vs. #3-Gannon). The other 11 a.m. match features #5-Grand Valley vs. #4-Ashland). The entire GLIAC tournament will be played at Emerson Park in Midland.

The GLIAC's automatic bid for the NCAA tournament is based 50% on the conference tournament and 50% on the regular-season standings.

In terms of regional rankings, SIU-Edwardsville (42-8) is currently seeded first but the regional ranking committee will reconvene Sunday evening. Trailing the Cougars are Southern Indiana (35-14), Gannon (37-14), Indianapolis (31-17) and Wayne State. Rounding out the top 10 are Northern Kentucky (35-17), Lewis (36-11), Northwood (36-13), West Virginia Wesleyan (39-22) and Alderson-Broaddus (36-15). The Warriors have split with Gannon, Indianapolis and Northern Kentucky, but swept Northwood and defeated West Virginia Wesleyan.

Each of the three conferences (GLIAC, GLVC, WVIAC) in the region will receive one automatic bid with the committee determining the five at-large teams. The No. 1 seed is scheduled to host the eight-team tournament beginning on Thursday, May 11.