The Big Ten race looks to be as wide-open as any other season in history.
Perennial power Michigan will always be near the top and Ohio State and Iowa have made themselves contenders over the past two seasons. Penn State and Illinois also look poised to make a run at the crown.
Illinois (17-5) has the best non-conference record so far and Illinois softball coach Terri Sullivan believes that her team's solid fielding and ability to make routine plays is the Fighting Illini's best asset. The Illini have committed just 17 errors this season, compared to 47 for their opponents. Their defense can only help their experienced pitching staff, which returns juniors Amanda Fortune and Sherri Taylor along with impressive freshman Jackelyn Diekemper.
"Pitching is the name of the game," Sullivan said. "There are a lot of terrific pitchers in this conference and it's good to have leadership in that spot."
The defending champion Wolverines (15-6) are led by the powerful pitching duo of senior Marissa Young and sophomore Nicole Motycka. Both have earned-run averages barely above one and Young has yet to be defeated. Young has 84 strikeouts in 12 appearances and also provides some major pop at the plate with four home runs.
The Hawkeyes (19-6) will look to improve on their NCAA Regional performance from last season. With 19 wins this season, they already are more than halfway to last season's total of 36. If they wish to have the same success in the Big Ten, they will need to find a way to replace graduated two-time All-American and all-time strikeout leader Kristi Hanks.
Sophomore Lisa Birocci looks to have established herself as the team ace, with an 11-5 record. Iowa just got a big victory over No. 6 California over the past weekend, which spells trouble for the rest of the Big Ten if the Hawkeyes can play that well all the time.
"Hanks is a huge graduation and so is [Alicia] Gerlach," Iowa softball coach Gayle Blevins said. "Your young players hopefully learned and picked some things up from them. We are getting that from our young pitchers."
Blevins plans to use her team's exceptional speed to produce some additional runs that some of the other teams she has coached wouldn't have scored. She said that this is the fastest team she has ever had.
The Buckeyes (15-10) had some work to do this season but have responded well.
The team was faced with the tough challenge of replacing catcher Stacey Roth (14 home runs, third team All-America last year), staff ace Wendy Allen (1.00 era, 143 strikeouts, second team All-America) and outfielder Anna Smith (.512 batting average, 40 stolen bases, first team All-America).
Early season success is due in large part to Ohio State's killer K's. Karisa Evans and Kristine Himes have led the way at the plate, while Katie Chain and Kristi DeVries are the 1-2 punch on the mound. Evans is leading the Buckeyes with a .364 average. Himes has already registered seven home runs, more than half of her total last season. Chain and DeVries both have earned-run averages below 2.00 and have combined for 158 strikeouts.
Michigan State (18-8) has also jumped out to a strong start this season, thanks in large part to the pitching of Jessica Beech. The Spartan junior has compiled a 12-3 record so far. She has a miniscule 0.73 earned-run average and has tossed six shutouts while striking out 110. Michigan State is holding its opponents to a .198 average.
While these teams represent the upper tier of the conference, the lower tier is not far behind. It should make for an exciting season.
