Wayne State University Athletics

Softball 4/29/2024 9:51:00 AM Jeff Weiss, Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Media Relations

Softball Earns No. 5 Seed For GLIAC Tournament

Warriors to face Ferris State in the opening round on Thursday.

DETROIT -- After qualifying for the GLIAC Softball Tournament the first 33 years (1985-2017) it was held, Wayne State will be back in the conference post-season for the fourth time in the past five years the league has conducted a tournament (no tournament was held in 2020 due to COVID).

The Warriors went 2-2 last week with home splits against Davenport and Ferris State to finish with a 9-15 GLIAC mark. WSU tied with Parkside (9-15 GLIAC), but earned the No. 5 seed based on tiebreakers (Wayne State and UWP split the four games head-to-head, while the Warriors were 2-2 vs. the No. 1 seed [GVSU] with the Rangers going 1-3 against the Lakers).

Fifth-seeded WSU will battle fourth-seeded Ferris State in the tournament's first contest at 11 a.m. (Central time) on Thursday from The Stadium at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, Ill. The winner will advance to face top-seeded Grand Valley State at 11 a.m. (Central time) on Friday. The loser will play again on Thursday at 4 p.m. Central time against the loser of the #3 (Purdue Northwest) vs. #6 (Parkside) game which is slated to begin at 1:30 p.m. (Central time).

Wayne State has won 13 GLIAC tournament titles, including five straight from 2012-13-14-15-16 when the Warriors amassed a 22-2 record in the league post-season. WSU's other tournament titles were in 1985-86-88-89-90-93-94-95.

Overall, this is WSU's 37th appearance in the GLIAC tournament. The Tartars/Warriors have compiled a 96-46 record, not including a forfeit by Westminster in 2000, as well as the tournaments in 2004 (at Lake Superior) and 2010 (Midland, Mich.) not being held due to weather.

Series History
The Bulldogs won the season series (3-1), after winning twice in Big Rapids and splitting in Detroit last Friday. Wayne State has a 91-51 edge in the all-time series since 1982, including a 27-4 mark in the first 31 meetings into the 1993 season. The Warriors victory in game two on Friday ended a nine-game Ferris State win streak in the series.

Leading the Warriors
Junior Rylie Josephson (West Bloomfield, Mich. / Walled Lake Central) continues to lead WSU in batting with a .388 average (54-for-139) along with a team-best 10 doubles, and a .455 on-base percentage. Senior Abby Favela (Riverside, Ill. / Riverside-Brookfield) is hitting .342 (41-for-120) with a team-leading seven stolen bases. Graduate student Becky Hodder (Orangeville, Ont.) has team-best totals of 25 walks for a .399 on-base percentage, along with 14 sacrifice bunts. Freshman Logan Forman (Brantford, Ont.) leads the squad with 14 extra-base hits (8 2B, 4 3B, 2 HR) and 26 RBI.

The WSU pitching corps consists of senior Alexis Bonk (New Hudson, Mich. / South Lyon), sophomore Sasha Buckberger (Oakville, Ont.) and freshman Sydney Long (Grand Blanc, Mich.). Bonk has a 7-12 record with a 4.73 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 114 innings. Meanwhile, Buckberger is 3-3 with a save along with a 4.11 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 44.1 innings. Long has a 6-13 mark with a 4.12 ERA and 78 strikeouts in a team-high 127.1 innings for third-year head coach Nicole Tines.

Leading the Bulldogs
Freshman first baseman Alexis Kozlowski has a team-high .377 batting average, while leading all GLIAC batters in doubles (19), triples (6) and total bases (109), and ranking second in RBI (47). Rookie shortstop Emma Gillard is hitting .313 with a team-best 20 stolen bases. Sophomore catcher Emily Killion has a .302 batting average.

Second-year head coach Jake Schumann has used seven pitchers this season. The FSU pitching corps is led by Aryn Gallacher, who has an 9-8 record with a 2.38 ERA and 69 strikeouts in a team-leading 117.2 innings. Ashley Webb is 6-6 with a 3.33 ERA 35 strikeouts in 77.2 innings. Veteran Catherine O'Donohue has not played since March 9 due to an injury but had a 3-1 record and a 1.73 ERA in 36.1 innings.

NCAA Rankings
Wayne State is 10th among all NCAA Division 2 schools with a GLIAC-leading 54 sacrifice bunts. Hodder leads the GLIAC and is fourth nationally with 0.32 sacrifice bunts per game. Forman is tied for the GLIAC lead and is tied-for-13th nationally with five sacrifice flies.

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Players Mentioned

#15 Alexis Bonk: P; 5' 9"; Senior; R/R

#14 Sasha Buckberger: P; 5' 11"; Sophomore; R/R

#7 Abby Favela: LF/2B/SS; 5' 4"; Senior; R/R

#11 Logan Forman: C/UT; 5' 5"; Freshman; R/R

#16 Becky Hodder: 1B/C; 5' 3"; Graduate Student; L/R

#4 Rylie Josephson: RF; 5' 7"; Junior; L/R

#6 Sydney Long: P; 5' 5"; Freshman; R/R

Players Mentioned

#15 Alexis Bonk
: 5' 9"; Senior; R/R
: P

#14 Sasha Buckberger
: 5' 11"; Sophomore; R/R
: P

#7 Abby Favela
: 5' 4"; Senior; R/R
: LF/2B/SS

#11 Logan Forman
: 5' 5"; Freshman; R/R
: C/UT

#16 Becky Hodder
: 5' 3"; Graduate Student; L/R
: 1B/C

#4 Rylie Josephson
: 5' 7"; Junior; L/R
: RF

#6 Sydney Long
: 5' 5"; Freshman; R/R
: P