Huskers Look to Make Run at Big Ten Tournament

LINCOLN – The Nebraska softball team (21-30, 9-14 Big Ten) begins the postseason on Thursday when it plays Illinois (31-22, 9-14 Big Ten) in the first round of Big Ten Tournament, in Bloomington, Ind. Nebraska holds the No. 8 seed, while Illinois is the No. 9 seed. First pitch is scheduled for 12:30 CT. The teams met already this season at the end of March. Nebraska claimed the series, 2-1. Nebraska hit .341 against Illinois over the three-game series. Tristen Edwards went 4-for-7 (.571) with two runs, a double and a home run. She also slugged 1.143 and drew four walks for an on-base percentage of .727. Peyton Glatter went 5-for-9 (.559) and slugged .778. Courtney Wallace went 4-for-9 with three runs, one double, two triples and one home run, finishing with a team-high slugging percentage of 1.333. 

LAST TIME OUT The Huskers closed the regular season at Wisconsin and won game one before dropping the last two of the series. However, Nebraska finished the season strong, winning six of its last nine games over the final two weeks of regular-season play. Tristen Edwards led the Husker offense against the Badgers going 5-for-11 (.455) with two runs, one double and one RBI. Madi Unzicker had a double and two home runs to finish the weekend with a slugging percentage of 1.000. In the circle, Regan Mergele pitched a scoreless 1.1 inning of relief and had one strikeout. Courtney Wallace made a team-high three appearances and finished with an ERA of 2.00. She pitched 7.0 innings and gave up two runs. She also had five strikeouts. 
SCOUTING ILLINOIS Illinois comes into the weekend on a four-game winning streak. Illinois is hitting .319, with regular starters Bella Loya (.392), Annie Flemming (.377), Kiana Sherlund (.376) and Carly Thomas (.374) leading the way.
A LOOK AT THE OTHER TEAMS No. 1 Michigan Wolverines Michigan (40-11, 22-1 Big Ten) claimed the No. 1 seed after winning the regular season title. It was Michigan’s 21st conference title and 11th in the past 12 seasons. The Wolverines clinched the outright Big Ten Championship on Sunday afternoon with a 12-3 victory at Maryland, coupled with Northwestern’s 4-0 loss at Minnesota.

No. 2 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern (42-9, 21-2 Big Ten) dropped to the No. 2 seed following the final weekend of play after losing its first two conference games of the season to Minnesota over the weekend. However, Northwestern has the best overall record in the conference and is expected to make a run at the title. 

No. 3 Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota (39-11, 20-2 Big Ten) handed Northwestern its first Big Ten losses of the season in the final weekend of the regular season, spoiling the Wildcats’ Big Ten Championship. Minnesota comes into the weekend with some momentum, winning nine of its last 10 games.

No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State (34-15, 17-6 Big Ten) clinched a first-round bye after winning two of three from Iowa in the final weekend and got help from Nebraska as the Huskers took one from Wisconsin over the weekend. Ohio State has been hot lately, winning nine of its last 10 games. The Buckeyes look to carry that momentum into the Big Ten Tournament.  

No. 5 Wisconsin Badgers Wisconsin (38-11, 15-8) barely missed out on a top-four seed and a first-round bye but won its final two games of the regular season against Nebraska. The Badgers have won seven of their last 10 games.  No. 6 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Rutgers (28-23, 11-12 Big Ten) finished the season with a 2-1 series win over Michigan State last weekend. Rutgers lost the finale, but has won six of their last 10 games. 

No. 7 Indiana Hoosiers Host school Indiana (35-20, 10-13 Big Ten) looks to make a run on its home field this weekend. Indiana won the final series of the season against Penn State and has won four of its last six games. 

No. 10 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State (34-31, 7-16 Big Ten) gets a rematch of its regular-season finale against Indiana. The Nittany Lions looks to avenge its two losses against the Hoosiers and advance in the tournament. However, Penn State finished the last 10 games of the season with a 3-7 record.

No. 11 Purdue Boilermakers Purdue (30-26, 6-17 Big Ten) looks to snap a nine-game losing streak and advance to the next round of the Big Ten Tournament. The Boilermakers last win was on April 16 against Notre Dame and the team’s last conference win was April 12 against Nebraska.

No. 12 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa grabbed the final spot in the tournament after taking one game from Ohio State over the weekend. The Hawkeyes got help, as Minnesota swept Maryland and Michigan State lost two games to Rutgers. Iowa is 3-7 in its final 10 games.

FOLLOW THE HUSKERS A live radio broadcast will be available on Huskers.com and the official Huskers App for all of Nebraska’s games this season. Fans can also follow all the action on Twitter (@HuskerSoftball).  All Big Ten Tournament games will be televised live on the Big Ten Network and will also be available on BTN2Go and the Fox Sports app.  Conference Tournament History Nebraska has won nine conference tournament titles, in school history, including six in the Big Eight and three in the Big 12. NU has qualified for each of the seven Big Ten Tournaments since the tournament was reinstated in 2013. The Huskers are 4-6 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament. Nebraska owns an all-time record of 64-29 in conference tournaments. Rhonda Revelle owns a 37-23 record in her 21 conference tournament appearances at Nebraska. She accounts for 58 percent of the Huskers’ all-time conference tournament wins (37 of 64). Rhonda Revelle has guided the Huskers to three conference tournament titles and five runner-up finishes. Husker Hitters Bringing Momentum Into B1G Tournament Several Huskers hitters had strong finishes to the regular season and Nebraska hopes that will continue as the team looks to make a run in the postseason. Over the last two weeks, which included nine games the Huskers are hitting .318 as a team - an improvement from its .266 season average. Additionally, the team is slugging .509 compared to a .439 season total and has an on-base percentage of .436, compared to an overall average of .365.  Individually, six Huskers are hitting above .300 in this stretch, even though only two Huskers (Tristen Edwards and Alyvia Simmons) are averaging .300 overall this season.