State College, Pa., May 9, 2000 - The Penn State softball team will open the 2000 Big Ten Tournament on Thursday afternoon against Purdue 12:00 p.m. (CT). The Lions earned the tourney's No. 3 seed after a third-place finish in the conference's regular season standings. No. 1 seed Iowa and No. 2 Michigan each will receive a bye in the first round, while No. 4 Northwestern will battle No. 5 Wisconsin in the tournament's other first round contest.

If Penn State wins its first round game with the No. 6 seed Boilermakers, it will face Michigan in a second round contest on Thursday at approximately 5:00 p.m. (CT).

The championship game is scheduled for Saturday, May 13 at 2:30 p.m. (CT) and will be televised on Sunday, May 14 at 4:30 p.m. (CT) on Fox Sports Chicago. Steve Schlanger will handle the play-by-play, while Erin McGee will provide the color commentary.

All tournament games will be TotalCast live. Fans and media can access the TotalCasts by logging on to the Big Ten Conference website at the following address: www.bigtenchampionships.com/local/totalcasts.html.

Penn State finished the regular season 34-15 overall and 12-5 in Big Ten play. The Lions are making their second straight conference tournament appearance under head coach Robin Petrini.

Tournament Schedule (All Times Central):

Thursday, May 11
Game 1: #3 Penn State vs. #6 Purdue, 12:00 p.m.
Game 2: #4 Northwestern vs. #5 Wisconsin, 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. #2 Michigan, 5:00 p.m.
Game 4: Winner Game 2 vs. #1 Iowa, 7:30 p.m.

Friday, May 12
Game 5: Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3, 12:00 p.m.
Game 6: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 4, 2:30 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 5:00 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 13
Game 9: Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 7, 12:00 p.m.
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9, 2:30 p.m.

Tournament Bracket