Courtesy of D.J. Foster, Grand Valley State Assistant Sports Information Director
Only two GLIAC schools were included in the eight-team NCAA Midwest Region Softball Tournament when the seedings were announced last Monday morning, but one week later, those are the only two teams remaining. No. 10 Wayne State and Grand Valley State, third seeds and fourth seeds, respectively, had remarkably similar weekends as both teams captured their sub-regional tournament championship and advance to the Midwest Super Regional this week in Detroit, Mich.
GVSU participated in the Midwest Region 1 Tournament in Indianapolis, Ind., while Wayne State was in the Midwest Region 2 Tournament in St. Louis, Mo. Both the Lakers and Warriors won the first games on Thursday (May 5) before losing their winner's bracket game on Friday morning (May 6). From there, Grand Valley State and Wayne State won three consecutive elimination games - the final two against the same opponent - to capture their respective regional titles.
The teams advance to the Super Regional (comparable to the Sweet Sixteen) this Wednesday and Thursday (May 11-12), with Wayne State earning the right to host the best-of-three series as the highest remaining seed. The GLIAC rivals will square off with one game on Wednesday, another on Thursday, and the 'if necessary' game immediately following game two.
Here is the schedule for this week's Midwest Super Regional at WSU Softball Stadium in Detroit, Mich.:
Wednesday, May 11
Game 1 - 4:00 p.m. (Wayne State is the home team)
Thursday, May 12
Game 2 - 1:00 p.m. (Grand Valley State is the home team)
Game 3 (if necessary) - 3:30 p.m. (Coin flip for home team)
The winner of the three-game series will travel to Denver, Colo. for the NCAA College World Series on May 17-21, as part of the NCAA Division II Spring Sports Festival. GVSU has advanced to the College World Series twice in school history (2002, 2013).
Grand Valley State (41-11) won four of its five games at the Midwest Regional Tournament over the weekend, including three one-run victories and a two-run win. Facing elimination on Friday, the Lakers knocked off #2 Indianapolis (the host school) by a 5-4 score. On Saturday, GVSU topped Trevecca Nazarene (the eighth seed) twice - by 4-2 and 2-1 scores to claim the sub-regional championship.
Wayne State (50-8) also needed to stave off elimination on Friday, as the Warriors defeated #6 Missouri-St. Louis (the host school) by a 3-1 final. WSU came back on Saturday to defeat Maryville (the seventh seed) by scores of 8-5 and 1-0 in eight innings to win the Midwest Region 2 title.
The two GLIAC schools met just once in the regular season, with Wayne State sweeping a home doubleheader, 4-0 and 8-1.
