Softball Tournament Update: Day 2

Emmerson Cope / Photo by Matthew Putney

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The stage is set for the semifinals of the 2024 Big Ten Softball Tournament Presented by DirecTV after four games were played on Thursday.

In a rematch of last year's championship game, top seed Northwestern was upset by No. 8 Indiana, 4-3, marking the third-straight win by a lower seed in the tournament.

Indiana (39-17) received hits from eight different players, scoring runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to build a 4-1 lead.

Northwestern (33-11), which won the Big Ten regular season title, struck for two runs in the bottom sixth but were kept off the board in the seventh.

Indiana will play its third game in as many days when it meets Nebraska on Friday at 4 p.m.

No. 4 Nebraska used the long ball to run-rule No. 5 Minnesota, 11-2, in five innings.

Big Ten Player of the Year Jess Oakland homered in Minnesota's first at-bat of the game before Nebraska (30-22) answered with Emmerson Cope's tape-measure shot that hit the top of the scoreboard at Pearl Field.

SS Billie Andrews ended the contest with her second home run of the day and the 60th of her career. In the circle, Sarah Harness held the Gophers (28-25) to three hits.

No. 2 Michigan put a 10-spot on No. 10 Maryland in a 10-0 run-rule contested decided in the fifth.

Michigan scored all its runs in the fifth, which was capped by Avery Fantucci's grand slam to center field. Lauren Derkowski tossed a two-hitter for the Wolverines (39-16) while Courtney Wyche struck out seven in 4.1 innings of work for the Terrapins (24-30).

Michigan will meet No. 11 Wisconsin tomorrow in a semifinal starting at 6:30 p.m. CT.

Wisconsin turned away No. 3 Rutgers, 7-3, to continue a remarkable run at the tournament. The Badgers (21-30) are the lowest seed to ever make the Big Ten semifinals.

Wisconsin scored four unearned runs in the fifth and added two more in the seventh. DP Hilary Blomberg went 3-for-5 with 5 RBI for the Badgers. LF Jillian Anderson led Rutgers (33-22) with three hits.

Both of Friday's semifinal games will be carried live by BTN.