Feb. 3, 2025

Ferris State softball team starting season early with tournament against top competitors in Hawaii

Ferris State softball team begins 2025 season in Hawaii — Ferris State head coach Jake Schumann offers instructions to one of his players at third base last season at home against Davenport.

BIG RAPIDS, Mich. —

The Ferris State University softball team is opening the 2025 campaign this week in Hawaii with six games on the schedule in the ULILI Softball Invitational.

The Bulldogs will play a total of six games starting on Monday and running thru Friday in Honolulu in one of the earliest starts in program history.

Ferris State, which is guided by third-year head coach Jake Schumann, will open the 2025 season on Monday against Hillsdale College in regional action. Ferris State will then face Lewis University from Illinois the same day in another regional tilt with first pitch set for Tuesday.

“We’re super excited to get this team on the field. We’ve bene practicing very hard,” Schumann said. “We open up with two of the toughest teams in our region, Hillsdale and Lewis. Lewis was No. 3 in the region last year, and going into the weekend, I think Hillsdale was sixth. It’s going to be tough right out of the gate.”

Ferris State is booked for two additional contests on Tuesday with matchups against Nebraska-Kearney. and Humboldt State.

Finally, the Bulldogs close out the event on Friday versus Hawaii-Hilo and Lewis again.

The Bulldog softball program closed the 2024 campaign with 25 victories, which represented Ferris State’s most wins in eight years. The Bulldogs had a single senior on a young playing roster last spring and reached the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament.

Overall, the Bulldogs return 12 squad members from last season and have added 10 newcomers, including a talented six-member freshman class.

Following the trip to Hawaii, the Bulldogs return to the mainland and will next compete at the Blue Ridge Battle held Feb. 21-23 in Evansville, Indiana. Ferris State will then visit regional opponents Ohio Dominican on Feb. 28 and Findlay on March 1 for two-game sets before heading to the USSSA Space Coast Spring Games for six additional games March 12 to 14.

Ferris State is slated to open GLIAC play at Saginaw Valley State on March 22 and the home opener is March 29 versus Purdue Northwest in Big Rapids.