Big Ten Tournament Day One Recap
Opening day of the 2018 Big Ten Softball Tournament in Madison, WI, kicked off on Thursday morning between the No. 7 Wisconsin and No. 10 Purdue. The Badgers came out on top with an 8-0 victory in five innings. After taking an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first, Taylor Johnson smashed a solo homer to left center that sparked a five-run rally in the bottom of the third. The Badgers earned their first run-rule win in Big Ten Tournament history and move on to face No. 2 Minnesota in the second round on Friday at 11 a.m.
Game two of the day between No. 6 Illinois and No. 11 Maryland was nothing short of thrilling. Illinois trailed 3-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning. The Fighting Illini put together a three-run sixth to secure the 5-3 come-from-behind win. “We started off shaky, but finished strong. Nerves were a factor early, but they did not get the best of us,” remarked Head Coach Tyra Perry. Illinois, who improved to 37-17 with their 12th win in the last 14 contests, advance to face off against No. 3 seed Indiana in Friday’s quarterfinal at 1:30 p.m.
Game three of the tournament between No. 8 seed Michigan State and No. 9 Nebraska ended with a score of 4-3 and the Spartans coming out on top. A solo home run by Catie Ladd and a two-run homer by Kelcey Carrasco helped MSU build a 4-0 lead through the first three innings. Despite a three-run rally for the Huskers in the fourth, the Spartan pitchers kept Nebraska’s offense at bay, forcing the Huskers to strand 11 runners. MSU will face Michigan in the quarterfinals for the second straight season. Both regular-season meetings in 2018 went to the Wolverines, 1-0 in Ann Arbor and 8-0 in East Lansing. The first pitch of Friday’s game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
It wouldn’t be a conference tournament without a first round upset and that’s exactly what happened in the final game of the day between No. 5 Ohio State and No. 12 Iowa. A four-run seventh inning gave the University of Iowa softball team its first Big Ten Tournament opening round win since 2015. The Hawkeyes defeated the Buckeyes 5-1 on Thursday night. Iowa sophomore pitcher Allison Doocy went the distance and shined in the circle, giving up one run, while tying a career high 15 strikeouts. Iowa will face No. 4 Northwestern on Friday at 7 p.m.
Friday brings the quarterfinal round and the aftermath will send four more teams packing. The final four teams remaining will take the field on Saturday afternoon and the Championship game is scheduled for 6 p.m., where a new Big Ten Tournament Champion will be crowned.
