1981 Big Ten baseball tournament

The 1981 Big Ten Conference baseball tournament was held at Ray Fisher Stadium on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, from May 15 through 17. The top two teams from the regular season in each division participated in the double-elimination tournament, the first such event sponsored by the Big Ten Conference to determine the league champion. Michigan won the first tournament championship and earned the Big Ten Conference's automatic bid to the 1981 NCAA Division I baseball tournament[3]

1981 Big Ten Conference
baseball tournament
Teams4
FormatDouble-elimination
Finals site
ChampionsMichigan (1st title)
Winning coachBud Middaugh (1st title)
MVPGerry Hool (Michigan)
1981 Big Ten Conference baseball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
East
Michigan  x‍‍y 10 4   .714 41 20   .672
Purdue  ‍‍‍ 8 6   .571 34 30   .531
Ohio State  ‍‍‍ 7 9   .438 34 18   .654
Michigan State  ‍‍‍ 6 8   .429 23 28   .451
Indiana  ‍‍‍ 5 9   .357 23 25   .479
West
Minnesota  x‍‍‍ 13 3   .813 37 16   .698
Illinois  ‍‍‍ 11 3   .786 35 26   .574
Iowa  ‍‍‍ 8 6   .571 44 21   .677
Wisconsin  ‍‍‍ 3 13   .188 24 36   .400
Northwestern  ‍‍‍ 3 13   .188 17 33   .340
x – Division champion
‡ – Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of June 30, 1981[1][2]
Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

Format and seeding

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The 1981 tournament was a 4-team double-elimination tournament, with seeds determined by conference regular season winning percentage within each division. The top seed from each division played the second seed from the opposite division in the first round.[3]

Team W L PCT GB Seed
East Division
Michigan 10 4 .714
1E
Purdue 8 6 .567
2
2E
Ohio State 7 9 .438
4
Michigan State 6 8 .429
4
Indiana 5 9 .367
5
West Division
Minnesota 13 3 .813
1W
Illinois 11 3 .786
1
2W
Iowa 8 6 .571
4
Wisconsin 3 13 .188
10
Northwestern 3 13 .188
10

Tournament

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Upper round 1Upper finalFinal
1EMichigan4
2WIllinois3
1EMichigan7
2EPurdue6
1WMinnesota0
2EPurdue9
1EMichigan10
2EMinnesota6
Lower round 1Lower final
2EPurdue3
2WIllinois01WMinnesota8
1WMinnesota2

All-Tournament Team

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The following players were named to the All-Tournament Team.[3]

Pos Name School
P Steve Ontiveros Michigan
P Bob Hallas Purdue
C Gerry Hool Michigan
1B Greg Beno Purdue
2B Mike Ledna Purdue
3B Chris Sabo Michigan
SS Bill Piwnica Minnesota
OF Jim Paciorek Michigan
OF Greg Schulte Michigan
OF Terry Steinbach Minnesota
DH John Young Michigan

Most Outstanding Player

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Gerry Hool was named Most Outstanding Player. Hool was a catcher for Michigan.[3]

References

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  1. ^ 2012 Big Ten Baseball Record Book (PDF). Big Ten Conference. p. 101. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
  2. ^ "College Baseball Conference Standings – 1981". Boyd's World. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d 2012 Big Ten Baseball Record Book (PDF). Big Ten Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 28, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2013.