2025 Big Ten Softball Tournament Bracket: Updated matchups, scores, schedule

The 2025 Big Ten Softball Tournament gets underway Wednesday in West Lafayette with Purdue serving as the host school. Michigan comes in as the defending champion, winning the 2024 title over Indiana.

Coming into this year’s tournament, newcomer Oregon is the No. 1 overall seed, followed by fellow west coast school UCLA as the No. 2. Nebraska and Ohio State are No. 3 and 4, serving as the final two teams with byes into the quarterfinals.

Host school Purdue grabbed the final seed in the Big Ten Tournament, seeded at No. 12 and taking on No. 5 Northwestern. Not everyone makes the postseason tournament, leaving the bottom five teams in the conference home for the postseason. So with that, let’s take a look at the Big Ten Softball Tournament bracket and schedule.

Wednesday, May 7 (First Round) 

Game 1: No. 11 Penn State 6, No. 6 Iowa 2
Penn State pulled off the upset to advance into Thursday’s quarterfinals with a controlling win, never trailing Wednesday afternoon. Things got off to a great start in the top of the second inning as Michela Barbanete hit a two-run home run and the Nittany Lions never looked back. She added an RBI in the top of the fifth just for good measure as well.

Game 2: No. 10 Indiana 2, No. 7 Washington 0
Indiana upset Washington in the second game of the day, seeing Brianna Copeland finish a 106-pitch shutout against the 7th-seeded Huskies. The Hoosiers scored one run in the third to break the opening tie, and earned their insurance run in the sixth to finish with a 2-0 victory. They’ll play UCLA on Thursday.

Game 3: No. 8 Michigan 3, No. 9 Wisconsin 2
Michigan never trailed as they defeated Wisconsin 3-2 in the first-round of the Big Ten softball tournament. Jenissa Conway went 2 of 3 at the plate with a double and a home run for Michigan, which saw her score two of her team’s three runs during the matchup. Wisconsin’s Molly Schlosser hit a solo home run in the top of the seventh, but was not enough to overcome the two-run defecit they entered the final inning with.

Game 4: No. 12 Purdue 4, No. 5 Northwestern 2
Purdue, the host of the Big 12 conference tournament this season, upset Northwestern after jetting out to an early 3-1 lead. The Wildcats would cut the lead in half with a run in the fifth inning, but Julia Gossett‘s (who also pitched the entire game) solo home run in the top of the seventh inning gave the Boilermakers an insurance run. Purdue held Northwestern scoreless in the bottom of the seventh to secure the victory.

Thursday, May 8 (Quarterfinals) 

Game 5: No. 3 Nebraska 9, No. 11 Penn State 1

No. 3 Nebraska run ruled No. 11 Penn State with a 9-1 win in the opening game of Thursday at the Big Ten Tournament. The Cornhuskers scored nine runs off seven hits and a pair of errors to win it by the bottom of the fifth after a walk-off ground ball. They’ll now await the winner of No. 2 UCLA and Indiana for their semifinal matchup tomorrow evening.

Game 6: No. 2 UCLA 5, No. 10 Indiana 4

UCLA and Indiana went at it for a full seven innings in their quarterfinal of the Big Ten Tournament. An error by Brianna Copeland, with the bases loaded, on a close pop-up by Rylee Slimp allowed the Bruins to walk it off for the first-ever win as part of the tournament. With that, UCLA will now play Nebraska tomorrow evening in the semifinals from West Lafayette.

Game 7: No. 8 Michigan 5, No. 1 Oregon 0

Michigan advancing in the Big Ten Tournament may be nothing new but Thursday’s result certainly was a surprise. The Wolverines took down the one-seed Oregon Ducks in shutout fashion, 5-0. Just five hits were given up by Michigan pitchers, solidifying their spot in the semifinals.

Game 8: No. 14 Purdue 15, No. 4 Ohio State 6

For the second straight game, there has been a massive upset at the Big Ten Tournament. Ohio State could have advanced into the semifinals, setting up a rivalry matchup against Michigan. Instead, Purdue will be heading there thanks to an offensive explosion. The Boilermakers are looking for their first-ever Big Ten Tournament title and third NCAA Tournament appearance.

Friday, May 9 (Semifinals) 

Game 9: No. 2 UCLA 4, No. 3 Nebraska 2

UCLA advanced to its third-straight conference title game on Friday, knocking off Nebraska after a late comeback effort. Kaitlyn Perry led the way on the mound, allowing just two runs over seven innings with 13 strikeouts. A pair of homeruns from the Bruins lineup sealed the victory and sent them to the championship game.

Game 10: No. 8 Michigan 4, No. 14 Purdue 2

Michigan took down Purdue on the underdog side of the bracket, escaping late pressure to advance into the championship game. After a strong start by Lauren Derkowski, Erin Hoehn pitched out of a jam in the sixth and finished the game strong. The Wolverines offense was did all its work in the third inning.

Saturday, May 10 (Championship) 

Game 11: No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 8 Michigan – 4 p.m. ET (Big Ten Network)

Oregon comes in as the No. 1 seed, as well as the highest ranked Big Ten team in the country. They were ranked No. 7 and received a first place vote in the most recent softball top 25. UCLA was ranked No. 10 and Nebraksa was No. 19 in the latest top 25.

Ohio State rounded out the Big Ten teams that were ranked with a No. 22 ranking as of May 5. There’s no doubt the competition of the Big Ten Softball Tournament is at some of its best this season.