Courtesy of Saginaw Valley, Wayne State & Grand Valley State Sports Information

BAY CITY, Mich. -- Three different Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) softball pitchers threw no hitters on Friday (May 13) in NCAA Division II Midwest Regional action. Saginaw Valley and Wayne State both advanced to their respective regional finals on Saturday.

The 29th-ranked Wayne State University softball team (39-13 overall) advanced to the finals of the Midwest Regional #1 with a 3-0 triumph at Missouri-St. Louis (40-14 overall) Friday afternoon. Warrior pitcher Lyndsay Butler tossed a no-hitter, the eighth of her career, in facing the minimum 21 batters. Wayne State will play UMSL in Saturday's championship round. 

No. 22 Saginaw Valley State team faced Grand Valley State University in a Friday evening elimination game after the Cardinals fell earlier in the day to Southern Indiana. After taking an early lead in the contest, No. 3 regional seeded SVSU powered its way to an 8-0 mercy rule victory over the No. 7 Lakers. Samantha Willman (21-7) was efficient in her victory on the mound. She tossed the complete 5.0 innings for the no-hitter. Willman struck-out one batter and walked three against the Lakers. 

Saginaw Valley (37-15) will return to action at the USI Softball Field on Saturday against the host and No. 9 nationally-ranked USI Screaming Eagles. The Cardinals need two victories over USI to claim the Midwest Regional #2 championship. First pitch for the opening game is set for 1:00 p.m. EDT.  

Earlier in the day, Grand Valley State sophomore Allison Lipovsky showed why she was named the 2017 GLIAC Pitcher of the Year, as the righthander tossed a seven-inning no-hitter on Friday afternoon (May 12) in an NCAA Tournament elimination game against Indianapolis. After also being held hitless over the game's first five innings, GVSU managed to put together the game's only run in the bottom of the sixth inning for a 1-0 postseason victory.