Thursday Afternoon Big Ten Tournament Open Thread

The 2017 Big Ten Baseball Tournament continues with a full day of action Thursday. Indiana completed a come from behind walk-off win against Michigan, defeating the Wolverines 5-4 in the 13th inning with a double from Alex Krupa plating Jeremy Houston to eliminate Michigan from the tournament.

Maryland and Iowa are next to play their first round match-up which was moved from last night to this afternoon. Iowa will send Nick Gallagher to the mound while he will be opposed by Maryland starter and Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Brian Shaffer.

To be beneficial to Nebraska, an Iowa win would be best. The Hawkeyes are thinner than Maryland on the mound and would present less of a challenge in the winners bracket. While the Huskers would see their RPI rise more with a victory over Maryland, an easier path would be present with sending Maryland to the losers bracket.

To finish the night, the loser of the Iowa and Maryland contest will have to turn around 40 minutes after the conclusion of their first contest and play Purdue in an elimination contest.

After that elimination contest, Northwestern and Minnesota play a winners bracket contest. Northwestern would make headlines moving to the winners bracket and earning a day off, while if Minnesota wins, Northwestern would have to play Indiana in a losers bracket game tomorrow.