Big 12 Conference baseball tournament

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 since the inaugural tournament was held in 1997. Conference realignment saw the Big 12 expand to 14 teams for 2025, The 2025 tournament will be a Single-elimination tournament with the top 12 teams in the final regular season standings qualifying for tournament. The top four teams in final regular season standings will receive byes into the second round.[1]

Big 12 Conference baseball tournament
Conference baseball championship
SportBaseball
ConferenceBig 12 Conference
Number of teams12
Formatsingle elimination
Current stadiumGlobe Life Field
Current locationArlington, Texas
Played1997–present
Last contest2024
Current championTCU (4)
Most championshipsTexas (5)
TV partner(s)ESPN+, ESPNU
Official websiteBig12Sports.com – Baseball
Sponsors
Phillips 66
Host 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)
Host locations
Oklahoma City (1997–2001, 2003, 2005–2014, 2016–2019, 2021)
Tulsa, Oklahoma (2015)
Arlington, Texas (2002, 2004, 2022–present)

History

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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. beginning with the 2022 Big 12 Conference baseball tournament, the tournament moved to Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas[2]

1997–98

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Conference realignment saw the Big 12 expand to 13 teams for 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

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Year School Site MOP
1997 Oklahoma All Sports StadiumOklahoma City, OK Brian Shackelford (Oklahoma)
1998 Texas Tech AT&T Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OK Josh Bard (Texas Tech)
1999 Nebraska Jason Jennings (Baylor)
2000 Nebraska Adam Shabala (Nebraska)
2001 Nebraska Dan Johnson (Nebraska)
2002 Texas The Ballpark in ArlingtonArlington, TX Dustin Majewski (Texas)
2003 Texas AT&T Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OK Dustin Majewski (Texas)
2004 Oklahoma State Ameriquest Field in Arlington • Arlington, TX Cody Ehlers (Missouri)
2005 Nebraska AT&T Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OK Curtis Ledbetter (Nebraska)
2006 Kansas Matt Baty (Kansas)
2007 Texas A&M Craig Stinson (Texas A&M)
2008 Texas Brandon Belt (Texas)
2009 Texas Brandon Loy (Texas)
2010 Texas A&M Brodie Greene (Texas A&M)
2011 Texas A&M RedHawks Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OK Andrew Collazo (Texas A&M)
2012 Missouri Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OK Eric Garcia (Missouri)
2013 Oklahoma Jon Gray (Oklahoma)
2014 TCU Jerrick Suiter (TCU)
2015 Texas ONEOK FieldTulsa, OK Zane Gurwitz (Texas)
2016 TCU Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OK Luken Baker (TCU)
2017 Oklahoma State Garrett McCain (Oklahoma State)
2018 Baylor Cody Bradford (Baylor) and Shea Langeliers (Baylor)
2019 Oklahoma State Colin Simpson (Oklahoma State)
2020 Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic
2021 TCU Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OK Porter Brown (TCU)
2022 Oklahoma Globe Life Field • Arlington, TX Peyton Graham (Oklahoma)
2023 TCU Brayden Taylor (TCU)
2024 Oklahoma State Carson Benge (Oklahoma State)
2025

By school

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School Appearances W-L Pct Tourney Titles Title Years
Baylor 25 32–37 .464 1 2018
Cincinnati 1 0–2 .000 0
Iowa State 1 1–2 .333 0
Kansas 12 10–17 .370 1 2006
Kansas State 14 14–18 .438 0
Missouri 14 22–11 .667 1 2012
Nebraska 10 28–10 .737 4 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005
Oklahoma 28 39–36 .520 3 1997, 2013, 2022
Oklahoma State 25 29–36 .446 4 2004, 2017, 2019, 2024
Texas 23 41–31 .569 5 2002, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2015
Texas A&M 14 23–19 .548 3 2007, 2010, 2011
Texas Tech 23 20–36 .357 1 1998
TCU 11 14–9 .609 4 2014, 2016, 2021, 2023
UCF 1 2-1 .667 0
West Virginia 11 8–10 .444 0

(As of the end of the 2024 tournament)

  • Italics indicate that the program no longer sponsors baseball in the Big 12.
  • Former and returning Big 12 member Colorado did not sponsor baseball after 1980

Records

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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 11 Texas (vs. Missouri) 5–24–09 21 Oklahoma (vs. Oklahoma State) 5–27–06 53 Oklahoma State 1997 4 games
Hits 9 Oklahoma State (vs. Iowa State) 5–18–01 23 Nebraska (vs. Missouri) 5–28–05 71 Oklahoma
Baylor
1997
2003
5 games
6 games
Doubles 7 Texas Tech (vs. Oklahoma)
Oklahoma (vs. Missouri)
1997
1997
18 Oklahoma 1997 5 games
Triples 3 Oklahoma (vs. Texas Tech) 1997 4 Oklahoma (vs. Texas Tech) 1997 8 Oklahoma 1997 5 games
Home runs 3 Oklahoma State (vs. Texas A&M)
Texas Tech (vs. Oklahoma)
1997
1997
5 Oklahoma State (vs. Texas A&M)
Missouri (vs. Nebraska)
1997
5–17–00
10 Texas 2002 6 games
RBI's 10 Texas (vs. Missouri) 5–24–09 21 Oklahoma (vs. Oklahoma State) 5–27–06 46 Texas 2003 6 games
Stolen bases 3 Several teams 7 Baylor (vs. Texas)
Baylor (vs. Texas Tech)
5–20–99
5–20–00
17 Baylor 1999 4 games
Walks 4 Oklahoma (vs. Baylor)
Texas A&M (vs. Oklahoma)
5–28–04
5–22–09
12 Baylor (vs. Oklahoma 5–26–07 36 Nebraska 2000 6 games
Strikeouts 16 Nebraska (vs. Texas)
Oklahoma (vs. Baylor)
5–26–04
5–26–07
51 Baylor 2003 6 games
Hit by pitch 5 Oklahoma (vs. Kansas State) 5–29–10 10 Nebraska 2005 6 games

Team fielding

Inning Game Tournament
Fielding % 1.000 Kansas
Missouri
Kansas State
2005
2007
2009
2 games
3 games
3 games
Putouts 42 Baylor (vs. Nebraska)
Nebraska (vs. Baylor)
5–24–03 172 Baylor 2003 6 games
Assists 21 Oklahoma State (vs. Missouri) 5–30–04 78 Texas 2003 6 games
Errors 4 Baylor (vs. Oklahoma State) 5–26–05 6 Texas Tech (vs. Texas A&M)
Texas A&M (vs. Texas)
5–16–98
5–27–04
11 Texas Tech 1998 5 games
Double plays 4 Several 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 ERA 1.29 Baylor 1999 4 games
Highest ERA 12.60 Missouri 1997 2 games
Saves 3 Nebraska
Baylor
2006
2007
4 games
4 games
Runs 11 Missouri (vs. Texas) 5–24–09 21 Oklahoma State (vs. Oklahoma) 5–27–06 43 Oklahoma 1997 5 games
Fewest runs 8 Baylor 1999 4 games
Hits 9 Iowa State (vs. Oklahoma State) 5–18–01 23 Missouri (vs. Nebraska) 5–28–05 66 Oklahoma 1997 5 games
Fewest hits 1 Nebraska (vs. Oklahoma State) 5–19–99 20 Oklahoma 2010 3 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
8 Texas A&M 1997 3 games
Strikeouts 16 Texas (vs. Nebraska)
Baylor (vs. Oklahoma)
5–26–04
5–26–07
47 Texas 2002 6 games
Walks 4 Baylor (vs. Oklahoma) 2004 12 Oklahoma (vs. Baylor) 2007 26 Oklahoma 2007 3 games
Fewest
walks
3 Missouri 2006
2008
3 games
Innings 14 Baylor (vs. Nebraska)
Nebraska (vs. Baylor)
5–24–03 57.1 Baylor 2003 6 games
Hit batters 5 Kansas State (vs. Oklahoma) 5–29–10 10 Texas 2003 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 7 Several 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 Ontiveros Texas 2002 6 games

Individual fielding

Game Tournament
Putouts 17 Several players 65 Jeff Ontiveros Texas 2002 6 games
Assists 10 Shelby Ford Oklahoma State (vs. Missouri) 5–24–06 22 Keith Ginter Texas Tech 1998 5 games
Errors 4 Paul Witt Baylor (vs. Oklahoma State) 5–26–05 8 Paul Witt Baylor 2005 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) 5–21–99 15.2 Brian Duensing Nebraska 2005 2 games
Hit batters 3 Shawn Tolleson Baylor (vs. Nebraska) 5–21–08 3 Several players
Complete games 1 Several players

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "2025 Big 12 Baseball Conference Schedule and Championship Bracket Format Announced". big12sports.com. Big 12 Conference. October 31, 2024.
  2. ^ "Big 12 Conference & Globe Life Field Extend Baseball Championship Agreement Through 2028". Big12Sports.com. Big 12 Conference. October 19, 2023.
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