Here are five things to know about the Big Ten Conference softball tournament being played Thursday through Saturday at Goodman Diamond:
The top 12 of 14 conference teams qualified for the four-round, single-elimination tournament. The top four teams in the standings — league champion Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana and Northwestern — earned byes to Friday's quarterfinals.
After four first-round games Thursday and four quarterfinal games on Friday, the two semifinals and championship game will take place Saturday. All games are on Big Ten Network.
The tournament champion gets the Big Ten's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.