Big 12 Conference baseball tournament explained

Big 12 Conference baseball tournament
Optional Subheader:Conference baseball championship
Sport:Baseball
Conference:Big 12 Conference
Number Of Teams:10
Format:two 5-team double-elimination brackets, winners face off in the championship game
Current Stadium:Globe Life Field
Current Location:Arlington, Texas
Years:1997–present
Most Recent:2024
Current Champion:TCU (4)
Most Championships:Texas (5)
Television:ESPN+, ESPNU
Website:Big12Sports.com Baseball
Sponsors:Phillips 66
All Stadiums:All Sports Stadium (1997)
Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (1998–2001, 2003, 2005–2014, 2016–2019, 2021)
The Ballpark in Arlington (2002, 2004)
ONEOK Field (2015)
Globe Life Field (2022–present)
All Locations:Oklahoma City (1997–2001, 2003, 2005–2014, 2016–2019, 2021)
Tulsa, Oklahoma (2015)
Arlington, Texas (2002, 2004, 2022–present)

The Big 12 Conference baseball tournament (sometimes known simply as the Big 12 tournament) is the conference championship tournament in baseball for the Big 12 Conference. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I baseball tournament. The format has changed multiple times sincd the inaugural tournament was held in 1997, currently the top 10 teams qualify with the top two seeds receiving a first-round bye in two 5-team double-elimination brackets, and the semi-final winners playing in a single-elimination championship game.

History

The Big 12 tournament was first played in 1997 at All Sports Stadium in Oklahoma City, before moving to Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark the following year. The tournament has been played in Oklahoma City each year, save for 2002 and 2004, when the event was played in Arlington, Texas, at the home park of Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers. Over its 10-plus year history, the tournament has had three distinct formats.

1997–98

See also: 1997 Big 12 Conference Baseball Tournament. In 1997 and 1998, the top six teams were invited to play in a double elimination tournament with no byes for any teams. The format mirrored the regional round of the NCAA tournament at that time.

1999–2005

See also: 1999 Big 12 Conference Baseball Tournament. Beginning in 1999, the tournament expanded to eight teams and followed the format of the College World Series. It consisted of two 4-team double-elimination brackets, with the winners facing off in a final championship game. The format mirrors that of the tournament format used by the Southeastern Conference, which continues to use this bracket.

2006–2010

See also: 2006 Big 12 Conference Baseball Tournament. In 2006 the tournament moved to a round-robin format. In this format, two pools of four teams play each other with the winners of each pool playing a one-game championship match. This format ended in 2010.

2011–2023

Starting with the 2011 Big 12 Conference baseball tournament, the tournament went back to the format used from 1999 to 2005. In 2021, the format changed for only that season to include a single-elimination play-in game with the 8th and 9th place teams before reverting back to the 8-team format for the following two years.

2024

Conference realignment saw the Big 12 expand to 13 teams for 2024, and 14 teams beginning in 2025. In 2024, the tournament expanded to a 10-team modified double-elimination format, with the first and second place teams receiving a first round bye.

Champions

YearSchoolSiteMOP
1997All Sports StadiumOklahoma City, OKBrian Shackelford (Oklahoma)
1998AT&T Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OKJosh Bard (Texas Tech)
1999AT&T Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OKJason Jennings (Baylor)
2000AT&T Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OKAdam Shabala (Nebraska)
2001NebraskaAT&T Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OKDan Johnson (Nebraska)
2002TexasThe Ballpark in ArlingtonArlington, TXDustin Majewski (Texas)
2003TexasAT&T Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OKDustin Majewski (Texas)
2004Ameriquest Field in Arlington • Arlington, TXCody Ehlers (Missouri)
2005NebraskaAT&T Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OKCurtis Ledbetter (Nebraska)
2006AT&T Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OKMatt Baty (Kansas)
2007AT&T Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OKCraig Stinson (Texas A&M)
2008AT&T Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OKBrandon Belt (Texas)
2009TexasAT&T Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OKBrandon Loy (Texas)
2010AT&T Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OKBrodie Greene (Texas A&M)
2011Texas A&MRedHawks Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OKAndrew Collazo (Texas A&M)
2012MissouriChickasaw Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OKEric Garcia (Missouri)
2013Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OKJon Gray (Oklahoma)
2014TCUChickasaw Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OKJerrick Suiter (TCU)
2015TexasONEOK FieldTulsa, OKZane Gurwitz (Texas)
2016TCUChickasaw Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OKLuken Baker (TCU)
2017Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OKGarrett McCain (Oklahoma State)
2018Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OKCody Bradford (Baylor) and Shea Langeliers (Baylor)
2019Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OKColin Simpson (Oklahoma State)
2020Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic
2021TCUChickasaw Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OKPorter Brown (TCU)
2022OklahomaGlobe Life Field • Arlington, TXPeyton Graham (Oklahoma)
2023TCUGlobe Life Field • Arlington, TXBrayden Taylor (TCU)
2024Oklahoma StateGlobe Life Field • Arlington, TXCarson Benge (Oklahoma State)

By school

SchoolAppearancesW-LPctTourney TitlesTitle Years
Baylor2532–3712018
Cincinnati10–20
Iowa State11–2.3330
Kansas1210–1712006
Kansas State1414–180
Missouri1422–11.66712012
Nebraska1028–10.73741999, 2000, 2001, 2005
Oklahoma2839–3631997, 2013, 2022
Oklahoma State2529–3642004, 2017, 2019, 2024
Texas2341–3152002, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2015
Texas A&M1423–1932007, 2010, 2011
Texas Tech2320–3611998
TCU1114–942014, 2016, 2021, 2023
UCF12-10
West Virginia118–100
(As of the end of the 2024 tournament)

Records

Team batting

Inning Game Tournament
Batting average .475 (19–40) Texas A&M (vs. Oklahoma)5–22–09 .390 (69–177) Texas Tech 1997 5 games
At-bats 15 Texas A&M (vs. Oklahoma)
Texas (vs. Kansas State)
Texas (vs. Missouri)
5–19–01
5–23–07
5–24–09
53 Oklahoma State (vs. Missouri) 13 inn.5–30–04 225 Baylor 2003 6 games
Runs 11Texas (vs. Missouri)5–24–09 21 Oklahoma (vs. Oklahoma State) 5–27–06 53 Oklahoma State 1997 4 games
Hits 9Oklahoma State (vs. Iowa State)5–18–01 23 Nebraska (vs. Missouri)5–28–05 71Oklahoma
Baylor
1997
2003
5 games
6 games
Doubles 7Texas Tech (vs. Oklahoma)
Oklahoma (vs. Missouri)
1997
1997
18Oklahoma1997 5 games
Triples 3 Oklahoma (vs. Texas Tech) 1997 4Oklahoma (vs. Texas Tech) 1997 8Oklahoma1997 5 games
Home runs 3Oklahoma State (vs. Texas A&M)
Texas Tech (vs. Oklahoma)
1997
1997
5Oklahoma State (vs. Texas A&M)
Missouri (vs. Nebraska)
1997
5–17–00
10Texas 20026 games
RBI's 10Texas (vs. Missouri) 5–24–09 21Oklahoma (vs. Oklahoma State)5–27–06 46Texas2003 6 games
Stolen bases 3Several teams7Baylor (vs. Texas)
Baylor (vs. Texas Tech)
5–20–99
5–20–00
17Baylor19994 games
Walks 4Oklahoma (vs. Baylor)
Texas A&M (vs. Oklahoma)
5–28–04
5–22–09
12Baylor (vs. Oklahoma5–26–07 36Nebraska20006 games
Strikeouts 16Nebraska (vs. Texas)
Oklahoma (vs. Baylor)
5–26–04
5–26–07
51Baylor20036 games
Hit by pitch 5Oklahoma (vs. Kansas State) 5–29–1010Nebraska2005 6 games

Team fielding

Inning Game Tournament
Fielding %1.000Kansas
Missouri
Kansas State
2005
2007
2009
2 games
3 games
3 games
Putouts 42Baylor (vs. Nebraska)
Nebraska (vs. Baylor)
5–24–03172Baylor2003 6 games
Assists 21Oklahoma State (vs. Missouri)5–30–04 78Texas2003 6 games
Errors 4Baylor (vs. Oklahoma State)5–26–056Texas Tech (vs. Texas A&M)
Texas A&M (vs. Texas)
5–16–98
5–27–04
11Texas Tech1998 5 games
Double plays 4Several teams 8 Oklahoma
Baylor
Missouri
1997
2004
2009
5 games
4 games
4 games
Triple plays 1 Kansas (vs. Texas)5–21–09
Games played 6 Nebraska
Texas
Baylor
Nebraska
2000
2002
2003
2005

Team pitching

Inning Game Tournament
Lowest ERA1.29 Baylor19994 games
Highest ERA 12.60 Missouri19972 games
Saves 3 Nebraska
Baylor
2006
2007
4 games
4 games
Runs 11 Missouri (vs. Texas)5–24–0921Oklahoma State (vs. Oklahoma)5–27–0643Oklahoma19975 games
Fewest runs 8Baylor19994 games
Hits9Iowa State (vs. Oklahoma State)5–18–0123Missouri (vs. Nebraska)5–28–0566Oklahoma19975 games
Fewest hits 1 Nebraska (vs. Oklahoma State)5–19–99 20Oklahoma20103 games
Home runs 3 Texas Tech (vs. Oklahoma)
Texas A&M (vs. Oklahoma State)
1997
1997
5 Texas A&M (vs. Oklahoma State)
Nebraska (vs. Missouri)
1997
5–17–00
8Texas A&M1997 3 games
Strikeouts 16Texas (vs. Nebraska)
Baylor (vs. Oklahoma)
5–26–04
5–26–07
47Texas2002 6 games
Walks 4Baylor (vs. Oklahoma)200412Oklahoma (vs. Baylor)200726Oklahoma2007 3 games
Fewest
walks
3 Missouri2006
2008
3 games
Innings 14Baylor (vs. Nebraska)
Nebraska (vs. Baylor)
5–24–0357.1Baylor2003 6 games
Hit batters 5 Kansas State (vs. Oklahoma) 5–29–10 10Texas2003 6 games
Complete
games
2 Nebraska
Oklahoma State
1999
2004
Shutouts 1 Several teams

Individual batting

Game Tournament
Batting average .750 (6–8)
.750 (9–12)
Jeremy Dodson
Chance Wheeless
Baylor
Texas
1997
2007
At bats 7Several players 29 Tim Moss Texas 2002 6 games
Runs 4 Several players 9 Several players
Hits 5 Curtis Thigpen
Curtis Ledbetter
Texas (vs. Baylor)
Nebraska (vs. Missouri)
5–25–03
5–28–05
14 (27 AB) Dustin Majewski Texas 2002 6 games
Doubles 3 J.T. Wise Oklahoma (vs. Texas A&M) 5–22–09 5 Brandon Toro Texas Tech 1997 5 games
Triples 2 Several players 2 Several players
Home runs 2 Several players 5 Dan Johnson Nebraska 2001
Grand slams 1 6 Players
RBI's 6 Several players 13 Dan Johnson Nebraska 2001 4 games
Stolen bases 3 Several players 6 John Cole Nebraska 2001 4 games
Slugging % 1.100 Barrett Barnes
Danny Black
Texas Tech
Oklahoma
2010 3 games
Walks 3 Several players 8 Keith Ginter Texas Tech 1998 5 games
Strikeouts 4 Several players 9 Aaron Gozart
Kevin Sevigny
Nebraska
Baylor
2000
2003
6 games
Hit by pitch 4 Jeff OntiverosTexas 20026 games

Individual fielding

Game Tournament
Putouts 17 Several players65Jeff Ontiveros Texas 2002 6 games
Assists 10Shelby FordOklahoma State (vs. Missouri)5–24–06 22Keith GinterTexas Tech19985 games
Errors 4Paul WittBaylor (vs. Oklahoma State)5–26–058Paul WittBaylor2005 4 games

Individual pitching

Game Tournament
Wins 2 Several players
Losses 2 Mitch Walter
Chase Bayuk
Kansas State 2002
2007
ERA 0.00 Several players
Saves 3 Brett Jensen
Nick Cassavechia
Nebraska
Baylor
2006
2007
Appearances 4 Several players
Strikeouts 13 Kendal Volz Baylor (vs. Oklahoma)5–26–07 14 Jason Jennings Baylor 1999 14.2 innings
Innings 10 D.J. Jones Texas (vs. Missouri) 5–21–9915.2Brian Duensing Nebraska 20052 games
Hit batters 3 Shawn Tolleson Baylor (vs. Nebraska) 5–21–08 3 Several players
Complete games 1 Several players

See also

References

External links