Softball Heads to Big Tens
May 06, 2002 | Softball
The Wisconsin softball team (31-18 overall, 11-6 Big Ten) travels to Ann Arbor, Mich., this weekend to participate in its third-straight Big Ten Conference championship. UW closed out the 2002 regular season in fourth place in the league standings, the program 's highest finish ever, to earn a trip to the six-team tournament.
The fourth-seeded Badgers face the fifth-seeded Penn State Nittany Lions (29-22, 10-9) in game two of the Big Ten championship on Thursday at 11 a.m. Penn State swept Wisconsin in Big Ten play this year, but the Badgers edged PSU, 2-1, at the NFCA Leadoff Classic on Feb. 24.
If the Badgers win their first matchup, they move on to face host and league champion Michigan (43-9, 15-3) Thursday at 4 p.m. Bucky took one out of two games from the Wolverines during the Big Ten season, a 2-0 victory in Ann Arbor. If the Badgers lose their first matchup, play for UW continues Friday at 8:30 a.m.
The Badgers made their first Big Ten championship appearance in 2000 as a fifth seed, losing games to Northwestern and Penn State. UW made a return trip to the 2001 tournament as the sixth seed and picked up its first postseason win over third-seeded Ohio State, 2-1.
