Feb. 22, 2007

Bay City, Mich. - The head baseball coaches of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) chose Ashland University to win the league's 2007 championship. Ashland, the defending North Central Region champion, received five of eight possible first-place votes and tallied 59 points. The Eagles narrowly edged out Grand Valley State, the four-time defending GLIAC champion, who received three first-place votes and tallied 58 points. GVSU earned the league title last season based on having the best regular season record after the GLIAC Baseball postseason tournament was cancelled due to inclement weather. The Lakers will open up the 2007 season this weekend (Feb. 24 & 25) when they take on Northern Kentucky and Rockhurst in a pair of doubleheaders in Nashville, Tenn.

Wayne State University finished just three points ahead of both Mercyhurst College and Saginaw Valley State University in the poll to claim third place. The Warriors earned 45 total points, while the Lakers and Cardinals each tallied 42 points. Mercyhurst tied Ashland for second place in the GLIAC in 2006 with a 23-9 regular season mark. SVSU recorded the remaining first-place nod.

The University of Findlay placed sixth in the poll with 33 points. Hillsdale College finished seventh, having recorded 19 points. Northwood University placed eighth in the poll with 15 points, while Gannon University tallied 10 points and finished ninth.

Each of the GLIAC's nine head coaches ranked the teams in the conference, but were not allowed to rank their own team. The first-place team on each ballot received eight points, while the second-place team received seven points, etc.

The 2007 GLIAC postseason baseball tournament is slated for May 10-12 in Midland, Mich. The first two days of the tournament (May 10 & 11), games will be played at Northwood's Gerace Stadium. The championship series on Saturday, May 12 will be played at Dow Diamond, home of the Great Lakes Loons, the Los Angeles Dodgers Class A affiliate of the Midwest League.

GLIAC baseball teams open the 2007 conference season on Saturday, Mar. 24.