Softball player named to preseason All-Big Ten team

Senior Amanda Wagner has been named to the Preseason All-Big Ten Softball Team, according to a list released by CollegeSportsMadness.com.

The infielder from Burbank, Ill., was the lone Hoosier to be named on the list as a second team member following a 30-25 season in 2012 in which she was named the team’s Most Valuable Player.

As a junior, Wagner started all 55 games and led the team in a variety of batting categories with a .343 hitting average, 49 hits, 37 runs batted in and nine home runs.

Her 57.6 on-base percentage in Big Ten play also was best in the conference, while her .717 slugging average ranked third. At the end of the season, Wagner was named to the Second Team All-Big Ten.

Heading into the 2013 campaign, Wagner will be one of only four seniors on the entire roster, with infielder Breanna Saucedo and outfielders Kelsey Brannon and Samantha Heyman as the others.

She and her teammates will open the season in less than a month, when on Feb. 8, the Hoosiers play Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz.

— Jordan Littman