Charles Fischer Administrator No. 1 Share Posted 18 hours ago Four games slated for Thursday at Charles Schwab Field Omaha, Rescheduled OMAHA, Neb. – The Big Ten Conference has announced a schedule change to the 2025 Big Ten Baseball Tournament Presented by IFS.ai. With inclement weather in the forecast, first pitch for three pool play games on Thursday will move up by one hour. The new start times are 9 a.m. CT for UCLA versus Michigan, 1 p.m. for USC-Penn State and 5 p.m. (3:00 PM PST) for Oregon-Michigan State. In addition, the Iowa-Indiana contest, originally scheduled for Friday, will be played at 9 p.m. on Thursday. All four games Thursday will be carried by the Big Ten Network. 1 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDuck No. 2 Share Posted 17 hours ago Add another crazy thing about the seeding... Remember, we said since Nebraska played on Tuesday, they will have time off until Friday before facing the Ducks, while the Ducks play on Thursday. Well, for the moment, assume Oregon beats Nebraska and wins Pod A. The Ducks would then play on Saturday after playing on Thursday and Friday. But, if Penn State beats USC on Thursday, they would be the Pod D winner with a day off before facing the Pod A winner on Saturday. So, you could have the No. 1 seed Oregon playing two teams coming off rest on Friday and Saturday while the Ducks would have played 3 consecutive days. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 3 Share Posted 16 hours ago On 5/21/2025 at 9:14 PM, HDuck said: So, you could have the No. 1 seed Oregon playing two teams coming off rest on Friday and Saturday while the Ducks would have played 3 consecutive days. Meh. If I know Coach Waz...he will remind the team that they've been playing three straight games a weekend for a couple of months, with a number of weekends of four straight games. They have their routine, and know how to approach it. Frankly, breaking up the routine might have made it worse? In his interviews he explains that he tells the team..."instead of practice--we get to play BASEBALL!" 1 1 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDuck No. 4 Share Posted 15 hours ago While the Ducks have played 3 straight days on weekends, so have their opponents. With time off like Nebraska and Penn State would have, both can rest starters and relievers. But, my real point was the seeming unfairness to higher seeds in the Pods. Just like the CFP. What if No. 1 seed Oregon had Nebraska's schedule (with rest) instead? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 5 Share Posted 15 hours ago I think the rest time is only important for the pitchers, and again, the Sports information director told me that the starters will be resting for seven days regardless. We could put nothing but freshman pitchers out there on Thursday, and lose the game, but we have everybody rested for a normal three day weekend series, so I think we will be OK. We have three catchers, and plenty to sub for infield and outfield that are quality players with little to no dropoff. I think everyone knows me well enough to confirm that if I was really concerned about this now, I would be asserting it strongly as I usually do. We may disagree, and that is fine. I actually think that throwing freshman pictures out there Thursday that haven’t had any action in a month or so besides practice, would be good for them in case we need to turn to them in the playoffs for an inning or two. 1 3 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Ducky No. 6 Share Posted 9 hours ago I guess the question is would you rather be sitting around a hotel room playing video games in an unfamiliar town or out playing baseball with an opportunity to go to the college World Series. I know what my answer would be. Play Ball!! go s 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 7 Share Posted 7 hours ago Why this format? Why not 16 teams with the Ducks playing the No. 16 seed and assuming a W, the winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 game, etc.? Or, how about the top 8 teams go to Omaha and OBD opens against No. 8, and UCLA against No. 7, etc.? Is the stud pitcher for Sparty starting the game vs. OBD? Look at an orange long enough and you can convince yourself it's a grapefruit. Better yet, how about call the whole thing off and prepare to play in the tournament where a trip to Omaha really matters. I don't believe Fox came up with a lot of extra money for the right to broadcast this tournament. Meanwhile, GO DUCKS! And thanks again Charles for the terrific coverage. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 8 Share Posted 5 hours ago On 5/22/2025 at 7:56 AM, Jon Joseph said: Is the stud pitcher for Sparty starting the game vs. OBD? No, as reported in another thread...he pitched 104 pitches on Tuesday against Nebraska, and thus will not available for us. 1 1 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDuck No. 9 Share Posted 4 hours ago This 3-team 4-Pod thing is interesting. There is a Pod with (3 seed) Iowa, Indiana and Rutgers, for example. Iowa is 1-0 after playing May 21. The other 2 teams are 1-1 Rutgers 0-1 Indiana Because the best Rutgers and Indiana can be is 1-1, and the worst Iowa could be is 1-1, the 3-seed Hawkeyes already know they will play May 24 in the semi-final. Iowa plays Indiana tonight May 22, but the outcome makes absolutely no difference in progressing to May 24. They could start the ball boy on the mound, and it wouldn't matter. They already know they will play UCLA because UCLA is 2-0 after two early games, the second one completed early this morning. (Oregon's first game is this evening) I don't know the better approach, but this just seems weird to me in terms of "competition." Play more games in a single day? Play games at two sites instead of one? Seems counter to seeding? Maybe I'm just making it too complicated? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 10 Share Posted 3 hours ago On 5/22/2025 at 10:53 AM, HDuck said: don't know the better approach, but this just seems weird to me in terms of "competition." Play more games in a single day? Play games at two sites instead of one? Seems counter to seeding? Maybe I'm just making it too complicated? I agree with you, as the Iowa game tonight...as the Michigan State-Oregon game tonight has no bearing on anything...so why are we playing these games? 1 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Moderator No. 11 Share Posted 2 hours ago On 5/22/2025 at 11:04 AM, Charles Fischer said: as the Michigan State-Oregon game tonight As I understand this, if Oregon loses to Michigan State tonight, the game against Nebraska, on their home field, is a Must Win, isn't it? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 12 Share Posted 1 hour ago It does not matter whether we win or lose tonight at all. There is no need to play the game, because if Nebraska beats Oregon on Friday...they would be 2-0 and advance. If Oregon loses tonight and then beats Nebraska, then all teams are 1-1, but the highest seed, the Ducks, would advance. So bottom line is that tonight's game is meaningless beyond the two teams' overall record, although it will be Michigan's State's last game of the year...hence they will want to win. For Oregon...the only game that matters is Friday's versus the Cornhuskers. Back-Up Catcher was Also Freshman of the Year! Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
