2008 Big Ten softball tournament

2008 Big Ten
softball tournament
Teams8
FormatSingle-elimination tournament
Finals site
ChampionsNorthwestern (1st title)
Runner-upIowa (8th title game)
Winning coachKate Drohan (1st title)
MVPLauren Delaney (Northwestern)
2008 Big Ten Conference softball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 9 Michigan  ‍†‍‍y 18 – 2   .900 52 – 8   .867
No. 12 Northwestern  ‍‍‡‍y 18 – 2   .900 40 – 16   .714
Iowa  ‍‍‍y 14 – 6   .700 42 – 20   .677
Minnesota  ‍‍‍ 9 – 7   .563 29 – 16   .644
Purdue  ‍‍‍y 9 – 9   .500 35 – 23   .603
Illinois  ‍‍‍ 8 – 12   .400 30 – 32   .484
Michigan State  ‍‍‍ 8 – 12   .400 27 – 29   .482
Ohio State  ‍‍‍ 7 – 13   .350 33 – 23   .589
Penn State  ‍‍‍ 6 – 12   .333 34 – 22   .607
Indiana  ‍‍‍ 6 – 14   .300 16 – 35   .314
Wisconsin  ‍‍‍ 3 – 17   .150 15 – 40   .273
† – Conference champion
‡ – Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of May 25, 2008[1]
Rankings from NFCA


The 2008 Big Ten softball tournament was held at Sharon J. Drysdale Field on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois from May 8 through May 10, 2008. As the tournament winner, Northwestern earned the Big Ten Conference's automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Division I softball tournament.

Format and seeding

The 2008 tournament was an eight team single-elimination tournament. The top eight teams based on conference regular season winning percentage earned invites to the tournament. After all tiebreakers between Michigan and Northwestern came out equal, the Wildcats won the official coin flip which was conducted by Big Ten Conference officials to determine this year's host. This was the first time in the tournament's history that the top-seeded team was decided by a coin flip.[2]

Bracket

Quarterfinals
May 8 and May 9 		Semifinals
May 9 		Championship
May 10
         
1 Northwestern 8
8 Ohio State 0
1 Northwestern 12
4 Minnesota 0
4 Minnesota 5
5 Purdue 4
1 Northwestern 1
3 Iowa 0
2 Michigan 1
7 Michigan State 2
7 Michigan State 4
3 Iowa 13
3 Iowa 9
6 Illinois 1

Schedule

Game Time* Matchup# Attendance
Quarterfinals – May 8 and 9
1 2:00 p.m. #2 Michigan vs. #7 Michigan State –
2 4:30 p.m. #1 Northwestern vs. #8 Ohio State
3 9:00 a.m. #3 Iowa vs. #6 Illinois –
4 11:30 a.m. #4 Minnesota vs. #5 Purdue
Semifinals – May 9
5 2:00 p.m. #3 Iowa vs. #7 Michigan State –
6 4:30 p.m. #1 Northwestern vs. #4 Minnesota
Championship – May 10
7 12:00 p.m. #1 Northwestern vs. #3 Iowa –
*Game times in CDT. # – Rankings denote tournament seed.[3]

All-Tournament Team

  • Michelle Batts (Northwestern)
  • Jessica Bracamonte (Michigan State)
  • Katie Brown (Iowa)
  • Lindsay Digmann (Iowa)
  • Lauren Delaney (Northwestern)
  • Erin Dyer (Northwestern)
  • Colleen McGlaughlin (Iowa)
  • Quinn Morelock (Iowa)
  • Natalie Neal (Minnesota)
  • Kelly Quinn (Northwestern)
  • Brianna Sudenga (Minnesota)
  • Kara Weigle (Michigan State)

Tournament MVP

  • Lauren Delaney (Northwestern)[4]

References

  1. ^ "2008 Softball Standings". BigTen.org. Big Ten Conference. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  2. ^ "2008 Big Ten softball tournament Preview". BigTen.org. Big Ten Conference. May 6, 2008. Retrieved March 19, 2021.[dead link‍]
  3. ^ "Michigan and Northwestern share 2008 Big Ten Softball Regular Season Title". BigTen.org. Big Ten Conference. May 4, 2008. Retrieved March 19, 2021.[dead link‍]
  4. ^ "Bracamonte and Weigle Named to Big Ten All-Tournament Team". msuspartans.com. May 11, 2008. Retrieved March 19, 2021.