2016 B1G Baseball Tournament & Travel Info

After a tight race in the regular season all year we finally end the road in Omaha. Eight teams will fight for the title and while a few will move on even if they don't take home the trophy expect hard fought battles all around.

Tournament bracket and info can be found here. The only interesting thing about this set up is that if you are coming up from the loser's bracket you will be sent to the opposite 'pod' for the Saturday games. Outside of that it is your standard eight team double-elimination tournament. On to the matchups:

Wednesday, May 25th

Game 1: No. 3 Indiana vs. No. 6 Maryland, 9 a.m

Head-to-head? No, the Hoosiers and Terps didn't face each other during the regular season but they did have a common opponent in Cal State Fullerton in which Maryland won the series whereas Indiana was swept. Expect this to be a tight matchup but the Hoosiers should be relaxed and ready after staying in Nebraska after the Husker series last week.

Game 2: No. 2 Nebraska vs. No. 7 Michigan St., 1 p.m

Head-to-head? Yes, Nebraska took the series in East Lansing back in early May. The Huskers also have momentum on their side as they are on a six game winning streak and MSU have lost five of their last six.

Game 3: No. 1 Minnesota vs. No. 8 Iowa, 5 p.m

Head-to-head? Yes, Gophers won at home back in early April although Hawkeyes have nothing to lose and have seemed to turn it on the past month winning five of their last six.

Game 4: No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 5 Michigan, 9 p.m

Head-to-head? Yes, the Buckeyes swept the Wolverines at home and you know they'll try to get another win in Omaha. Michigan also seems to be reeling in losing seven of their last eight.

Thursday, May 26th

Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 at 9 a.m.
Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 at 1 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 at 5 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 at 9 p.m.

Friday, May 27th

Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 7 at 3:30 p.m.
Game 10: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 8 at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 28th

Game 11: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9 at 9 a.m.
Game 12: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 10 at 1 p.m.
Game 13: Winner Game 11 vs. Loser Game 11 at 5 p.m. (if necessary)
Game 14: Winner Game 12 vs. Loser Game 12 at 9 p.m. (if necessary)

Sunday, May 29th

Game 15: Big Ten Tournament Championship at 1 p.m.

All times are Central and subject to change. All games to be broadcast on BTN.

The Field of 64

As the conference tournament plays out some of the teams may still get in regardless of what they do in Omaha. Here are the projections as of May 24th:

Minnesota - #2 seed in Coral Gables, FL

Ohio State - #3 seed in Louisville, KY

Nebraska - #2 seed in Starkville, MS

Michigan - #3 seed in Clemson, SC

TD Ameritrade Park and Omaha Info

TD Ameritrade Park is home again to the B1G Baseball Tournament after Delany and Co. saw great turnouts two years ago.  Parking is abundant and tickets can be found for as cheap as $11. Located on 1200 Mike Fahey Street in the rapidly developing North Downtown district of Omaha the park is within 3.5 miles of the airport and a short walking distance to downtown Omaha/The Old Market district.

Omaha is where TD Ameritrade is located and provides multiple opportunities for fun away from the ballpark. I suggest checking out the downtown/Old Market area as well as the Henry Doorly Zoo (near the old Rosenblatt Stadium), The Durham Museum, and the ridiculous amounts of golf courses around the city. Explore other options here.

Players of the Week (5/23/16)

Co-Players of the Week:

Mason McCoy 3B, Jr., IOWA
Had a .500 batting average on the week with 10 hits and four stolen bases. This is his first Big Ten Player of the Week award.

Cody Bruder OF, Sr., MICH
Hit .529 on the week with eight RBIs, nine hits and three runs. This is his first Big Ten Player of the Week award.

Pitcher of the Week: Tyler Peyton P, Sr., IOWA
Had a complete game shutout in his outing against Penn State with four strikeouts and allowing just three hits. This is his first Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honor.

Freshman of the Week: Matt Waldron Nebraska P, Fr., NEB
Tossed eight scoreless innings in the win over Indiana. In that game he had seven strikeouts and allowed only three hits. This is his second straight Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor.

2016 Baseball All-Big Ten Teams and Individual Award Winners (selected by conference coaches)

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Matt Fiedler, Minnesota

This two-way player did it all for the Gophers. He was second in the Big Ten in hits (82), third in batting average (.383) and sixth in slugging percentage (.542) in all games. On the mound, Fiedler was 7-2 on the season.

PITCHER OF THE YEAR

Cody Sedlock, Illinois

Lead the Big Ten with 116 strikeouts and ranked seventh in earned run average (2.49).

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR

Chad Luensmann, Nebraska

Nebraska's main relief pitcher was tied for first in the Big Ten with 13 saves.

COACH OF THE YEAR

JOHN ANDERSON, Minnesota

Anderson was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year for the sixth time which is the most in Big Ten history. Anderson, who is the winningest coach in B1G history, guided the Golden Gophers to their 23rd Big Ten Championship this season.

ALL-BIG TEN FIRST TEAM

C - AUSTIN ATHMANN, Minnesota
1B - Scott Schreiber, Nebraska
2B - Dan Durkin, Michigan State
2B - Connor Schaefbauer, Minnesota
SS - Nick Roscetti, Iowa
3B - Nick Sergakis, Ohio State
OF - Joel Booker, Iowa
OF - CODY BRUDER, Michigan
OF - Ronnie Dawson, Ohio State
DH - MATT FIEDLER, Minnesota
SP - CODY SEDLOCK, Illinois
SP - Kyle Hart, Indiana
SP - Tanner Tully, Ohio State
RP - Dakota Mekkes, Michigan State

ALL-BIG TEN SECOND TEAM

C - RJ Devish, Rutgers
1B - Jordan Zimmerman, Michigan State
SS - Steven Reveles, Nebraska
3B - Micah Coffey, Minnesota
OF - Dan Motl, Minnesota
OF - Ryan Boldt, Nebraska
OF - Greg Guers, Penn State
DH - Carmen Benedetti, Michigan
SP - Brett Adcock, Michigan
SP - Cam Vieaux, Michigan State
SP - Dalton Sawyer, Minnesota
RP - Chad Luensmann, Nebraska

ALL-BIG TEN THIRD TEAM

C - Harrison Wenson, Michigan
C - Jason Goldstein, Illinois
1B - Kyle Wood, Purdue
2B - Nick Dunn, Maryland
SS - Brian Wilhite, Indiana
3B - Jake Bivens, Michigan
OF - Craig Dedelow, Indiana
OF - Brandon Hughes, Michigan State
OF - Jake Meyers, Nebraska
DH - Ben Miller, Nebraska
SP - Taylor Bloom, Maryland
SP - Brian Shaffer, Maryland
SP - Howie Brey, Rutgers
RP - Jack Anderson, Penn State

ALL-BIG TEN FRESHMAN TEAM

C - Ryan Fineman, Indiana
1B - WILLIE BURGER, Penn State
2B - Nick Dunn, Maryland
SS - Riley Smith, Minnesota
3B - LUKE MILLER, Indiana
OF - Marty Costes, Maryland
OF - Marty Bechina, Michigan State
OF - Jawuan Harris, Rutgers
DH - Scotty Bradley, Indiana
SP - Cole Bellair, Illinois
SP - MATT WALDRON, Nebraska
SP - Justin Hagenman, Penn State
RP - CHAD LUENSMANN, Nebraska

SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD NOMINEES - players chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These players must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.

J.D. Nielsen, Illinois
Austin Cangelosi, Indiana
Jimmy Frankos, Iowa
Anthony Papio, Maryland
Cody Bruder, Michigan
Justin Hovis, Michigan State
Conner Schaefbauer, Minnesota
Taylor Fish, Nebraska
Jake Stolley, Northwestern
Nick Sergakis, Ohio State
Alex Malinsky, Penn State
Kyle Johnson, Purdue
RJ Devish, Rutgers

Unanimous selections in ALL CAPS

Players of the week, schedule, and info courtesy of bigten.org & btn.com