2018 Big Ten softball tournament

The 2018 Big Ten softball tournament was held at Goodman Softball Complex on the campus of University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin from May 10 through May 12, 2018. As the tournament winner, Minnesota earned the Big Ten Conference's automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Division I softball tournament. All games of the tournament aired on BTN.

2018 Big Ten
softball tournament

Teams	12
Format	Single-elimination
Finals site	Goodman Softball Complex Madison, Wisconsin
Champions	Minnesota (5th title)
Runner-up	Northwestern (6th title game)
Winning coach	Jamie Trachsel (1st title)
MVP	Maddie Houlihan (Minnesota)
Television	Big Ten Network
← 2017 Softball Tournament 2019 →

Tournament

2018 Big Ten Conference softball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 17 Michigan ‍†‍‍y	18	–	3		.857			43	–	11		.796
No. 25 Minnesota ‍‍‡‍y	17	–	4		.810			36	–	15		.706
Indiana  ‍‍‍	17	–	6		.739			25	–	29		.463
Ohio State ‍‍‍y	14	–	8		.636			34	–	13		.723
Northwestern ‍‍‍y	14	–	8		.636			36	–	16		.692
Illinois ‍‍‍	13	–	8		.619			36	–	17		.679
Wisconsin ‍‍‍y	11	–	9		.550			27	–	20		.574
Michigan State  ‍‍‍	10	–	12		.455			24	–	25		.490
Nebraska ‍‍‍	9	–	13		.409			31	–	22		.585
Purdue  ‍‍‍	7	–	15		.318			16	–	39		.291
Maryland  ‍‍‍	7	–	16		.304			18	–	36		.333
Iowa  ‍‍‍	6	–	16		.273			20	–	31		.392
Penn State  ‍‍‍	5	–	18		.217			9	–	41		.180
Rutgers  ‍‍‍	4	–	16		.200			19	–	31		.380
† – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 7, 2018[1] Rankings from NFCA

	1st Round May 10th BTN					Quarterfinals May 11th/12th BTN					Semifinals May 12th BTN					Finals May 13th BTN
						1	Michigan	0
						8	Michigan State	7
	8	Michigan State	4
	9	Nebraska	3
											8	Michigan State	0
											4	Northwestern	11(5)
						4	Northwestern	2(8)
						12	Iowa	1
	5	Ohio State	1
	12	Iowa	5
																4	Northwestern	6
																2	Minnesota	9
						2	Minnesota	6
						7	Wisconsin	0
	7	Wisconsin	8(5)
	10	Purdue	0
											2	Minnesota	9
											3	Indiana	4
						3	Indiana	2
						6	Illinois	1
	6	Illinois	5
	11	Maryland	3

• Only the top 12 participate in the tournament, therefore Rutgers and Penn State were not eligible to play.

Schedule

Game	Time*	Matchup#	Television	TV Announcers[2]	Attendance
First Round – Thursday, May 10
1	12:00 p.m.	#7 Wisconsin vs. #10 Purdue	Big Ten Network	Lisa Byington & Carol Bruggeman
2	2:30 p.m.	#6 Illinois vs. #11 Maryland
3	5:30 p.m.	#8 Michigan State vs. #9 Nebraska		Dean Linke & Jennie Ritter
4	8:00 p.m.	#5 Ohio State vs. #12 Iowa
Quarterfinals – Friday, May 11
5	12:00 p.m.	#2 Minnesota vs. #7 Wisconsin	Big Ten Network	Lisa Byington & Carol Bruggeman	–
6	8:45 p.m.	#3 Indiana vs. #6 Illinois
7	11 p.m.	#1 Michigan vs. #8 Michigan State		Dean Linke & Jennie Ritter	–
Quarterfinals – Saturday, May 12
8	11:30 a.m.	#4 Northwestern vs. #12 Iowa	Big Ten Network	Lisa Byington & Carol Bruggeman	–
Semifinals – Saturday, May 12
9	2:00 p.m.	#2 Minnesota vs. #3 Indiana	Big Ten Network	Lisa Byington & Carol Bruggeman	–
10	4:30 p.m.	#4 Northwestern vs. #8 Michigan State
Championship – Sunday, May 13
11	11:00 a.m.	#2 Minnesota vs. #4 Northwestern	Big Ten Network	Lisa Byington & Carol Bruggeman	–
*Game times in EDT. # – Rankings denote tournament seed.

References

1. "Softball". Big Ten Conference. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
2. "#MAYhem: College Softball's Biggest Month Begins with More than 60 Conference Tournament Games, 11 Championship Games on ESPN's Networks". ESPN Media Zone. Retrieved May 8, 2017.

• https://web.archive.org/web/20180510092108/http://www.bigten.org/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/050618aad.html
• http://uwbadgers.com/sports/2018/3/5/softball-tournament-central.aspx