University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Earn Second Seed in Big Ten Tournament
5/6/2018 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Tournament Central Page // Official Bracket // Big Ten Release
MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota softball has officially earned the second seed in the 21st Big Ten Tournament after finishing 17-4 in the conference play. As a top four seed, Minnesota receives an opening round bye and will play the winner of No. 7 Wisconsin and No. 10 Purdue on Friday, May 11 at 11 a.m. CT.
The 12-team, single-elimination tournament begins Thursday with first-round games and continues through Saturday's championship game. This year's tournament will be held at Goodman Diamond on the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin. The tournament champion will earn the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. All games will stream live on the Big Ten Network and be available on BTN2Go.
Minnesota holds an 18-14 Big Ten Tournament record as they make their 13th overall appearance and seventh consecutive. The tournament was discontinued in 2009 before being reinstated in 2013 to determine the conference's automatic bid. Since the reinstatement of the tournament, Minnesota has been a top-four seed in each Big Ten Tournament going in as the number two seed twice, number two seed now three times and number one seed once. The last time the Gophers entered in as the two seed, in 2016, they came out on top as Big Ten Tournament champions before recording back-to-back titles in last season's historic run.
Michigan received the top seed in the tournament finishing 18-3 in conference play. Finishing behind the Gophers in third and fourth were Indiana and Northwestern.
For more information on the 2018 Big Ten Tournament including tickets, official bracket and more click here to visit the tournament central page.
