Softball || Wayne State University

No. 1 WAYNE STATE
(30-15 Overall, 12-2 GLIAC)
at GLIAC Tournament • May 3-4, 2002
Brookside Park • Ashland, Ohio

Kashmerick's efforts lead WSU to top tourney seed
Detroit Free Press article (May 2)

The GLIAC Tournament
The Wayne State softball team will head to Ashland, Ohio on Friday-Saturday (May 3-4) for the GLIAC Tournament. The Warriors, who are the No. 1 seed after finishing the league season with a 12-2 record, will play the winner of Saginaw Valley and Ferris State at 11 a.m. on Friday. If WSU’s advances, it will play the winner of Gannon and Mercyhurst at 3 p.m. before heading on to Saturday play. Last season, Wayne State finished second in the conference tournament after falling to Grand Valley in the finals, 4-3. The Warriors have won the GLIAC Championship 11 times with their last title coming in 1996. The tournament will be held at Brookside Park in Ashland.

Warriors Ranked in NCAA Regional Poll
The Warriors are ranked No. 5 in the latest NCAA Regional Poll, which was released on May 1. The top six teams in the poll advance to the NCAA Regionals, which are held at campus sites on May 11-12. The NCAA Championship Tournament will be held on May 16-20 in Salem, Virginia. The Warriors, who are in the Great Lakes Region, trail first place Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, No. 2 Northern Kentucky, No. 3 West Virginia Wesleyan and No. 4 Grand Valley.

Head Coach Gary Bryce
Head coach Gary Bryce is in his 21st season at the helm of the Warrior softball program. Bryce has compiled a career-record of 680-437-5, which ranks him ninth all-time among NCAA Division II coaches. Under Bryce’s guidance, Wayne State’s softball program has been nationally ranked 18 times in his 21 seasons. WSU has made nine appearances (1983-84-85-86-88-90-92-93-94-96) in the NCAA Division II National Championship tournament since the program began in 1982, most of any school in Michigan.

GLIAC Tournament 2001
In last year’s GLIAC Tournament the Warriors opened up with a 4-2 victory over Saginaw Valley and a 6-0 win over Ashland on the first day of play. On day two, WSU would fall to Grand Valley, 5-1, in the semifinals, before rebounding with a 7-5 win over SVSU that put them in the championship game. The Warriors would later fall to GVSU in the final, 4-3. The tournament was hosted by Wayne State and played in St. Clair Shores.

Last Time Out
The Wayne State softball team ended the regular season with a two-game sweep of the Detroit Titans, 12-1 and 1-0 on May 1, improving to 30-15 overall. The Warriors have won six straight games.

Against Detroit, game one saw Wayne State play home run derby with three shots out of the park. A pair of five run innings in the fourth and fifth gave WSU a mercy-shortened five inning victory.

Senior Kelly Kashmerick, sophomore Beth Berry and sophomore Johanna Proulx all had home runs with Kashmerick’s being a grand slam in the fourth inning. Junior Connie Milroth went the distance for her 14th win of the season (14-5), allowing one run off three hits.

A pitcher's battled emerged in the nightcap amidst light rain. Junior Amy Thiede and Detroit’s Krista Peters went toe-to-toe, with Thiede winning the battle for her ninth victory (9-6), giving up just three hits in her fourth shutout of the season. The games only run was scored in the top of the sixth on a two-out RBI single by sophomore Leah Ondrovick that scored Kashmerick.

News N’ Notes

Sophomore Beth Berry went 7 for 8 with two home runs and 10 RBI in a series sweep of Lake Superior (April 26). Berry went 4 for 4 with two home runs and seven RBI in game one and went 3 for 4 with three RBI in game two. For her effort she was named GLIAC Player of the Week on April 29. Berry is currently riding a career-high 15-game hitting streak. She ranks first on the team in batting average (.424) and multiple-hit games (16) and is first in the GLIAC with seven home runs.

Senior Kelly Kashmerick is second on the team with a .408 batting average and is first with 19 multiple-hit games. Kashmerick leads the GLIAC in hits (64), doubles (15) and is second in total bases (91). WSU holds a 5-9 record against opponents ranked in the top 25.

Since returning from the Spring Rebel Games in Orlando, Fla. On March 17, the Warriors have improved their team batting average 25 points from .278 to .303. In addition, WSU's team ERA has improved from 2.25 to 1.64.