Big Ten baseball tourney preview: League readies for Omaha action
Indiana leads a wide-open field as the Big Ten baseball tournament kicks off Wednesday at Omaha’s TD Ameritrade Park. Home to the College World Series, each of the eight teams vying for the conference tourney title dreams of making a return visit in mid-June.
To do so, teams will need to avoid the dreaded opening day loss. The first day of the tournament has proven to sideline favorites before, including local favorite Nebraska. The fifth-seeded Huskers return to Omaha after missing the tournament in 2018. The Huskers open against fourth-seeded Minnesota at 9 p.m. CT Wednesday. The Huskers and Gophers, who tied with a 15-9 conference mark, are in the same bracket as No. 21 Indiana and eighth-seeded Iowa. The Hoosiers won the regular season title with a 17-7, a half-game ahead of Michigan (16-7). The Hawkeyes finished with a 12-12 conference mark. Indiana-Iowa play at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
The losers of the night games play at 1 p.m. Thursday, while the victors face off at 9 p.m.
Starting off the day’s events will be third-seeded Illinois and Maryland. The Illini, rated 20th in this week’s D1 America poll, and the sixth seeded Terrapins (12-12) play at 9 a.m. The duo are in the same bracket as second-seed Michigan Wolverines (22nd in Collegiate America poll) and seventh-seed Ohio State (12-12). The Big Ten’s football rivals will face off on the diamond at 1 p.m.
The losers of the early games play at 9 a.m. Thursday. The winners will play at 5 p.m.
Friday’s schedule includes elimination games at 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. The teams that that move to 2-0 after Thursday advance to Saturday’s semi-finals at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. If necessary, elimination games will be played at 5 and 9 p.m.
The single-elimination Big Ten championship game is scheduled at 1 p.m. Sunday. All games will be televised on the Big Ten Network. The champion wins the automatic bid for the NCAA tournament, whose 64-team field will be announced on May 27. The Big Ten is looking at a potential of at least four teams making the tournament – Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Nebraska. Iowa, at 30-22 and an RPI of 99, would likely need to win the conference post-season championship to make the NCAA tournament.
Big Ten standings
Team W L Overall
Indiana 17 7 36-19
Michigan 16 7 38-16
Illinois 15 9 36-17
Minnesota 15 9 26-25
Nebraska 15 9 28-20
Maryland 12 12 28-27
Ohio State 12 12 31-24
Iowa 12 12 30-22
Northwestern 11 13 24-27
Rutgers 9 14 20-31
Michigan State 8 15 20-34
Purdue 7 16 20-34
Penn State 4 18 22-27