Baseball Tournament: Day 1 Recap

Photo by Mark Kuhlmann

OMAHA, Neb. — A new format and an expanded field greeted teams as the Big Ten Tournament Presented by IFS.ai began Tuesday at Charles Schwab Field Omaha. This year's event features 12 teams for the first time along with pool play.

In the opening game, No. 11 seed Illinois edged No. 7 seed Michigan, 6-5, in 10 innings. The Fighting Illini (30-23) scored three runs in the first inning before the Wolverines (32-22) stormed back to tie it at 5-5 on Noah Miller's two-run blast in the eighth. Jacob Schroeder homered in the tenth to end Illinois' five-game tournament losing streak to Michigan.

In the second game, No. 10 seed Rutgers opened a 5-0 lead and didn't look back in knocking off No. 6 seed Indiana, 5-2. Ty Doucette went 3-for-4 for the Scarlet Knights (29-27), who cleared the fences three times. Devin Taylor mashed his 17th home run of the season for the Hoosiers (31-24).

The nightcap saw No. 8 seed Nebraska rally to defeat No. 12 seed Michigan State, 5-4. The Cornhuskers (29-27) pushed the tying run across the plate in the ninth before Robby Bolin delivered an RBI single in the 10th. Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Joseph Dzierwa struck out six batters over six innings for the Spartans (28-26).

Pool play continues on Wednesday with UCLA meeting Illinois, Penn State taking on Washington and Iowa meeting Rutgers.