Madison, Wis. — The worst disasters hit without warning.
Indeed, the first inning of Friday’s Big Ten tournament quarterfinal went off without a hitch. Freshman left-hander Meghan Beaubien looked like the ace she’d been all year, striking out the first two Michigan State batters and working around a single for a quick third out.
But the next inning, the wheels came off, and the No. 16 Michigan softball team began careening toward catastrophe — a 7-0 loss to that marked UM's second quarterfinal exit to in-state rival MSU for the second straight year.
MSU (26-25) advances to play the winner of the Northwestern-Iowa quarterfinal, which was postponed until 11:30 a.