Tournament Central Website

MADISON, Wis. – It's tournament time for the Wisconsin softball team and this year they play host to the Big Ten Softball Tournament. The Badgers earned the seventh seed and will play No. 10 Purdue in the first round at 11 a.m. on Thursday. All tournament games will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
 
 
1. REGULAR SEASON RECAP: The Badgers finished the regular season with a 27-20 record and were 11-9 in conference play. Wisconsin played best at home where they were 10-2. Most notably, the Badgers earned a series sweep of Nebraska for the first time in school history, outscoring them 28-7. UW also had three ranked wins over No. 6 Auburn, No. 24 Ohio State and No. 24 USC Upstate.
 
2. TERRIFIC TJ: Freshman Taylor Johnson finished the regular season with a bang, leading the team with five hits this weekend including a two-run homer in Friday's game. She leads the team with seven goners and has 40 hits and 32 runs on the season.
 
3. TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK: The Badgers know how to get on base and score their teammates. Wisconsin ranks in the top-three in the Big Ten in walks, sacrifice bunts and sacrifice flies. They pace the conference with 38 sac bunts, rank second with 185 walks and are third with 13 sac flies.
 
4. CROSSING CAREER MILESTONES: Catcher Melanie Cross tallied her 100th career hit in Friday's game when she doubled in the first inning. Cross ranks fourth on the team this season with 32 hits and is tied for third with 27 RBI.
 
5. BRACKET BREAKDOWN: Michigan earned the top seed after winning the conference title this past weekend. The Wolverines are joined by No. 2 Minnesota, No. 3 Indiana, and No. 4 Northwestern in the top four and will all have first round byes. The Badgers will play No. 10 Purdue on Thursday at 11 a.m. and the winner of that game will go on to face No. 2 Minnesota on Friday at 11 a.m. The championship game is set for Saturday at 6 p.m.
 
BONUS: Kelsey Jenkins finished first in the league for the regular season in batting average (.420) and on-base percentage (.578).
 
 
 
BONUS BONUS: Purdue drew the No. 10 seed in the tournament and is coached by former Badger Boo Gillette (De Oliviera). The Boilermakers finished the season 7-15 in the Big Ten and 16-39 overall. UW won the series over Purdue at home with a 4-3 victory at Get to Goodman and a 7-1 win the day before. Melanie Cross had five hits over the Boilermakers and freshman Haley Hestekin recorded a career-high seven strikeouts against Purdue in the second game.