Softball | 5/4/2015 8:45:00 AM

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University softball team (41-18-1 overall) earned the No. 8 seed in the Midwest Region after the NCAA Tournament selections were announced on Monday morning. WSU won its fourth straight GLIAC Tournament on Sunday, rallying from a 9-2 deficit after three-and-a-half innings in the winner-take-all championship game against Saginaw Valley State University. Wayne State is making its ninth NCAA Tournament trip in the past 10 years and has a record of 16-18 in the past decade in NCAA games.

Wayne State will play the University of Missouri-St. Louis Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. Eastern at UMSL's Softball Field.  The other two teams competing at UMSL are fourth-seeded Grand Valley State (32-15) and fifth-seeded Southern Indiana (37-9).  The Lakers vs. Screaming Eagles game on Friday will start at 1 p.m. Eastern (noon Central time).  Friday's two winners will play at 1 p.m. (Eastern) on Saturday, followed by an elimination game at 3:30 p.m.  The game 1 loser and game 2 winner will play at 6 p.m. on Saturday for the right to advance to Sunday's Championship round.  Sunday's game times are 1 p.m. and "if necessary" 3:30 p.m. Eastern.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY
WSU was selected to the NCAA tournament for the 20th time in the 34-year tenure of head coach Gary Bryce, who is 14th in all of NCAA Softball (all three divisions combined) with 1,158 wins. The only schools currently in D-II with more than 20 softball appearances are Bloomsburg - 32; California (PA) - 24; Augustana (SD) - 23; Humboldt State - 21; and Florida Southern - 20.

The Warriors are 24-41 overall in the NCAA Tournament. Wayne State has made at least four appearances in each of the past four decades under Bryce. Wayne State qualified four times during the 1980's ('83, '84, '86, '88), five times during the 90's ('90, '92, '93, '94, '96) and six times in the 2000's ('02, '03, '06, '07, '08, '09). WSU has already made five appearances during the current decade as well ('10, '12, '13, '14, '15).

In 2013, the Warriors dropped their first two games in an NCAA Midwest Regional hosted by Indianapolis. WSU fell in straight games to host Indianapolis and then Ashland, two teams that Wayne State defeated during the season that year.

Last year, Wayne State hosted the NCAA Midwest Regional and recorded three consecutive shutout victories over Ashland (3-0), Grand Valley State (3-0) and Indianapolis (7-0) to advance to the Midwest Super Regional at Missouri-St. Louis.  After dropping the opener 3-0 to the Tritons on day one, the Warriors rebounded for a pair of triumphs on Saturday (1-0 and 8-4) to reach the College World Series for the third time in program history (2003 in Salem, Oregon, and 2010 St. Joseph, Mo., were the first two CWS appearances).

2015

The 41 wins accumulated by this year's squad is tied for fourth most in program history with the 2007 team.  The 1993 team totaled 43 victories, while last year's College World Series squad finished with 46 triumphs.  The school record of 52 wins was set by the 2010 College World Series squad.

Since starting the year with a 12-13 record, the Warriors have recorded a 29-5-1 mark.  Out of those 13 early season setbacks, six were by one run, another three by two runs plus one by three runs.  Wayne State had a 16-game winning streak from April 3-24 after last season's school record 19-game winning streak (April 18, 2014-May 11, 2014).