Live Stats (all games) | Tournament Homepage | Game Notes
 
Game 1 Video | Game 2 Video | Game 3 Video
 
Winning three consecutive NCAA Tournament elimination games last week in Indianapolis clinched a Midwest Region 1 Championship for Grand Valley State and pushed the third-seeded Lakers into this week's Midwest Super Regional against a familiar opponent. On Wednesday and Thursday (May 11-12) in Detroit, GVSU will face #10 Wayne State in a best-of-three series, with the winning GLIAC team advancing to the College World Series in Denver, Colo., starting next Tuesday (May 17).

Grand Valley State and Wayne State will play at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday (May 11), followed by a mandatory second game on Thursday (May 12) at 1:00 p.m. If the series is tied at 1-1, the Michigan schools will square off in a winner-take-all third game immediately following game two, tentatively scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Thursday.
 
Clink the links above to follow along with the live stats or free video webcast and to access the tournament homepage and GVSU's Super Regional game notes.
 
When the NCAA announced its 2016 tournament teams last Monday morning (May 2), just two GLIAC schools were entered into the Midwest Region field, yet those are the only two remaining teams in the region. And both schools took remarkably similar paths to advance to the Midwest Super Regional, which is comparable to the Sweet Sixteen.
 
With GVSU as the #4 seed and Wayne State as the #3 ranked team, each squad won its opening game on Thursday (May 5) over a lower-ranked opponent. Both teams played in the winners bracket on Friday (May 6) - the Lakers against #8 Trevecca Nazarene and WSU versus #7 Maryville - but dropped that game, meaning they'd be playing an elimination game later that afternoon.
 
As fate would have it, in that elimination game, Grand Valley State drew the top seed in its sub-regional tournament and the host school - #2 nationally Indianapolis - with one of the top pitchers in all of Division II. Similarly, Wayne State was matched up with the top seed in its sub-regional and the host school - #6 nationally Missouri-St. Louis - who also have one of the top pitchers in the country.
 
Playing on their opponents' home field in an elimination game, both Grand Valley State (5-4) and Wayne State (3-1) extended their seasons with close victories, eliminating both host schools and their senior All-American pitchers in the process. That set up another commonality for Saturday (May 7): GVSU and the Warriors would need to defeat the teams they lost to on Friday morning - and beat that team twice in the double-elimination format - to clinch the regional championship and move onto the Super Regional round.
 
Playing earlier on Saturday afternoon, Wayne State topped Maryville 8-5 to force the 'if necessary' game, following the opening win with a 1-0 defeat in eight innings, notching the walk-off victory on a sacrifice fly. Meanwhile, the Lakers were earning revenge on Trevecca Nazarene, taking down the Trojans by scores of 4-2 and 2-1, using a sixth inning suicide squeeze bunt for the eventual winning run.
 
To recap, both teams went 4-1 and won their games in the same order (win, loss, win, win, win) and defeated the top two teams in the Midwest Region (Indianapolis, Missouri-St. Louis) and their All-American pitchers (UMSL's Hannah Perryman, UIndy's Morgan Foley), who rank first and second, respectively, in career strikeouts in Division II.
 
The wild weekend of softball sets up an all-GLIAC showdown in the Midwest Super Regional. Throughout the eight Super Regional series being played in Division II this week, five of those eight matchups pit the #1 and #2 seeds against each other. There is a #1 vs. #6 matchup, but only two regions - the Midwest and the East - have neither the #1 or #2 teams in the regional finals.
 
But that hardly makes this matchup less enticing, as the two conference opponents are situated roughly 180 miles apart. Wayne State, the host school by virtue of its higher regional seed, is 50-8 on the season, while GVSU brings a 41-11 record into the series at the WSU Softball Stadium in Detroit.
 
The teams have met just once this season - in a conference doubleheader played at Wayne State on Mar. 29. Then-#18 WSU got the better of the Lakers that day with 4-0 and 8-1 wins, but since that twinbill, Grand Valley State has posted a 23-5 record, including a 19-4 mark in April and a regular season-ending 13-game win streak.
 
Wayne State holds a 5-2 all-time advantage in NCAA Tournament play over GVSU. The schools have met in each of the last two postseasons, with the Warriors earning identical 3-0 victories in both 2014 (in Detroit) and 2015 (in St. Louis). They also played twice in 2007 (splitting those two games) and three times in 2003, with WSU winning two of the three contests.
 
This year's appearance in the NCAA Tournament is the 14th all-time in Laker history and the seventh time that GVSU has advanced to the Midwest Region championship game/series. The NCAA adopted the best-of-three Super Regional series in 2009 and Grand Valley State has reached that postseason round in 2011 (losing the series 2-0 at Saginaw Valley State) and 2013 (when GVSU upset #1 Indianapolis in the series, 2-1), in addition to this year's berth.
 
All four of Grand Valley State's victories last weekend in Indianapolis were by two runs or less, with three of those victories coming by one run apiece. That follows a similar storyline, as GVSU is a combined 19-5 this year in games decided by less than two runs and a stellar 13-3 in one-run ballgames. Interestingly, the Lakers outscored their opponents last week by a slim 16-15 margin.
 
When the Lakers score first, they are nearly unbeatable; GVSU is 35-1 when it scores first in a game. That stat includes both of last Saturday's championship game victories over Trevecca Nazarene. GVSU received two outstanding pitching efforts, allowing a total of three runs on six hits in the two contests, but the Laker offense came up with timely runs, with the winning tallies coming in the final two innings.
 
In game one against Trevecca Nazarene, 2016 GLIAC Freshman of the Year Allison Lipovsky allowed just one unearned run in a complete game victory, which was her first pitching appearance in nearly three weeks. The game was tied 2-2 in the seventh inning, when senior McKenze Supernaw drilled an RBI double, followed by an RBI groundout from junior Ellie Balbach for the final run.
 
GVSU came back in game two and took a 1-0 lead on a solo homer from sophomore Teagan Shomin, her third of the year. TNU tied the score in the bottom of the fifth - also on a solo homer - but the Lakers used a rarely-seen suicide squeeze to regain the lead in the sixth inning. Junior Jenna Lenza came up with runners on the corners and one out and laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt, while speedster Janae Langs raced home on the pitch. While Lenza's bunt landed fair, Langs slid across home plate just a moment later for the go-ahead (and eventual game-winning) run.
 
Senior pitcher Sara Andrasik came into the game in relief of sophomore Courtney Reinhold, who was terrific, allowing just three hits in the first five innings. Andrasik tossed consecutive 1-2-3 innings to close the door on the Trojans and clinch another berth in the Midwest Super Regional. Interestingly, Andrasik was also the pitcher who finished off #1 Indianapolis on the same field in the 2013 Super Regional, sending the Lakers to the College World Series for the second time in school history.
 
Andrasik either tallied the win or the save in three of the four Laker victories last weekend. On Monday (May 9), Andrasik joined Balbach, Lenza, and Lipovsky on the D2CCA All-Midwest Region Second Team, selected by the region's sports information directors. The Lakers' four honorees were the second-most of any team in the Midwest Region, behind only Trevecca Nazarene's six selections.
 
That announcement came on the heels of Balbach and sophomore Kaylie Rhynard being voted to the NFCA All-Midwest Region Second Team, chosen by the head coaches in the Midwest Region. In terms of conference honors, Balbach, Lenza, Rhynard, and Supernaw were all named to the All-GLIAC First Team, while Andrasik and Lipovsky secured spots on the All-GLIAC Second Team. Centerfielder Janae Langs and third baseman Shannon Flaherty were tabbed as All-GLIAC Honorable Mention selections.

With its 50-8 record, Wayne State went 21-3 in GLIAC regular season play and won the GLIAC Tournament championship for the fifth straight year. Junior Lyndsay Butler was named the 2016 GLIAC Player of the Year after earning the GLIAC Pitcher of the Year award in both 2015 and 2014. She was joined on the All-GLIAC First Team by third baseman Jade McGarr, outfielder Kristen Lucas, and pitcher Mackenzie Boehler. Butler was also tabbed the D2CCA Midwest Region Player of the Year, as she is hitting a team-high .490 with 12 home runs, but has also struck out 225 batters and won 29 games in the circle.
 
Whichever GLIAC team wins the Midwest Super Regional advances to the College World Series at the Regency Athletic Complex Softball Field in Denver, Colo. from May 17-21.