Wayne State University Athletics

Softball 4/25/2025 9:46:00 AM Jeff Weiss, Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Media Relations

Softball To Close Regular-Season At GVSU And PNW

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University softball squad (23-26 overall, 12-12 GLIAC) will conclude the regular season with doubleheaders at Grand Valley State University (23-23 overall, 14-10 GLIAC) on Saturday and Purdue Northwest (11-31-1 overall, 6-17 GLIAC) on Sunday in a schedule modification from the original Friday date due to the weather forecast in Hammond, Indiana for Friday.

SERIES HISTORY
Wayne State has a 75-68-2 advantage in the all-time series against GVSU dating back to 1982. The last six meetings are even at 3-3, despite the Warriors dropping the last six match-ups in Allendale. The squads split the doubleheader in Detroit earlier this month with the Lakers claiming the opener 3-1, before the Warriors took the nightcap 5-4 on an eighth inning walk-off home run by Logan Forman.

The Pride have a 17-10 lead in the all-time series dating back to 2018. Wayne State has lost its last seven outings in Hammond to fall to 2-10 in games at PNW's Dowling Park. The teams split a twinbill in Motown earlier this month with WSU taking game one 3-2 on a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh, while Purdue Northwest won game two 4-3.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Senior Rylie Josephson (West Bloomfield, Mich. / Walled Lake Central) is batting .431 (25-for-58) on the season with a .515 on-base percentage. Freshman Katelyn DeWitt (Grand Blanc, Mich.) and sophomore Logan Forman (Brantford, Ont.) are batting .358 and .340, respectively. Newcomer Elly Koopman (Hudsonville, Mich.) leads the squad with 37 RBI, while Josephson, Forman and Koopman are tied for the team lead in doubles (9). Forman has team-high totals of five triples and 11 home runs for a .694 slugging percentage.

Junior Grace Fisher (Painesville, Ohio / Riverside [Notre Dame College]) leads the pitching corps with 11 wins and a 3.41 ERA, while sophomore Sydney Long (Grand Blanc, Mich.) has six wins and two saves. Long has 75 strikeouts with Fisher recording 74 strikeouts. Junior Hayden Batton (Plainfield, Ind. / Avon) has recorded 46 strikeouts in 73 innings.

Nicole Tines is in her fourth season guiding the Warriors and has led WSU to 23 wins this year, tied for the most in the last six years.

LEADING THE LAKERS
Grand Valley State enters Friday's doubleheader against league-leading Saginaw Valley State having compiled a 7-3 mark during the second half of the GLIAC's double round-robin schedule. Madelynn Pope has a team-best .365 batting average (42-for-115), along with a squad-high eight triples and a .617 slugging percentage. Elizabeth Wesoloski leads GVSU in both home runs (7) and RBI (36), while Grace Usher and Morgan Spicer are tied for the team lead with 10 doubles. Faith Edwards and Eliana Eiland each have 13 stolen bases.

Dana Callihan, who is in her 11th season leading the Lakers, has primarily used two pitchers this spring. Nevaeh Ingram is 12-8 with a 2.85 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 130.1 innings. Karli Dorr has compiled an 8-11 mark with 2.92 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 117.2 innings.

LEADING THE PRIDE
Purdue Northwest has a 3-6 record since last facing the Warriors. Kylie Dugan leads PNW in batting average (.387), on-base percentage (.433) and stolen bases (19). Olivia Hernandez has team-high totals of 30 RBI and five home runs. Grace Wilson is hitting .400 in 20 starts.

Fifth-year head coach Tristan Zink has used five different pitchers this spring. Rylan Gick is 5-7 with a 4.27 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 78.2 innings, while Abbey Bond has a 2-5 record with a 5.34 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 56.1 innings. Hailie Charmat has compiled a 2-9 mark with a 5.83 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 57.2 innings. Jordyn Roop has tossed 63.2 innings with 23 strikeouts and is 1-7 with a 6.93 ERA. Hannah Rafferty-Flatter has made three starts in nine appearances with 15.0 innings.

NCAA NATIONAL RANKINGS
WSU leads the GLIAC and ranks 38th nationally in sacrifice bunts with 38, and 34th nationally in triples (16). Freshman Morgan Williams (Midland, Mich.) is 63rd nationally in sac bunts per game (0.20 / 8 in 40 games), while Forman is 53rd in home runs (11) and 42nd in triples (5).

Wayne State has played the 33rd toughest schedule (.557 / 1138-903) according to the NCAA, out of 277 NCAA Division 2 softball schools.

Among active NCAA Division 2 players, Fisher is 25th in strikeouts/per game (6.13), 27th in strikeouts (418), 31st in innings pitched (477.7) and 40th in games started (74), including this year at WSU following two years at Notre Dame College.

UP NEXT
Wayne State has qualified for the GLIAC Tournament which will take place May 1-4 at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, Ill. Day one will have two first round games (#4 vs. #5 and #3 vs. #6), plus an elimination game with the losers of the first two games playing game three of the day.

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Players Mentioned

#18 Hayden Batton: P; 5' 8"; Junior; L/L

#20 Kate DeWitt: 3B/DP; 5' 7"; Freshman; R/R

#16 Grace Fisher: P; 5' 6"; Junior; R/R

#11 Logan Forman: C/UT; 5' 6"; Sophomore; R/R

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

#21 Elly Koopman: P/1B/DP; 5' 9"; Freshman; L/R

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

#15 Morgan Williams: RF/1B; 5' 8"; Freshman; L/L

Players Mentioned

#18 Hayden Batton
: 5' 8"; Junior; L/L
: P

#20 Kate DeWitt
: 5' 7"; Freshman; R/R
: 3B/DP

#16 Grace Fisher
: 5' 6"; Junior; R/R
: P

#11 Logan Forman
: 5' 6"; Sophomore; R/R
: C/UT

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

#21 Elly Koopman
: 5' 9"; Freshman; L/R
: P/1B/DP

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

#15 Morgan Williams
: 5' 8"; Freshman; L/L
: RF/1B