BTN to Televise Live Every Game of the Big Ten Baseball Tournament, Beginning Wednesday

BTN to Televise Live Every Game of the Big Ten Baseball Tournament, Beginning Wednesday

Nightly Big Ten Diamond Reports Complement Coverage





CHICAGO, May 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- For the fifth straight year, BTN will televise live every game of the Big Ten Baseball Tournament. Coverage begins tomorrow and continues until Saturday, with a game on Sunday if necessary. The entire tournament will take place at Target Field, home of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins. Purdue won the tournament title last year, earning the Big Ten's automatic bid to the NCAA Baseball Championship.

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A nightly episode of the Big Ten Diamond Report will air following the last game of each day throughout the tournament. Rick Pizzo and Mike Hall will host the shows, along with analyst Cal Eldred.

Live coverage begins with opening-round games at 1 PM ET and 4:30 PM ET Wednesday. No. 4 seed Minnesota will face No. 5 seed Illinois, followed by No. 3 seed Nebraska taking on No. 6 seed Michigan. Kevin Kugler will call both games along with analyst Danan Hughes.

At 1 PM ET on Thursday, the action kicks off with the losing teams of Wednesday's games facing off. Coverage continues with games at 4:30 PM ET and 8 PM ET, when No. 2 seed Ohio State and No. 1 seed Indiana face the winners of Wednesday's games. Kugler and Hughes will call the first two games of the day. Eric Collins and analyst Scott Pose will have the call for the final game of the evening, with Lisa Byington reporting from Target Field.

The action continues Friday with games scheduled for 1 PM ET, 4:30 PM ET and 8 PM ET. Kugler and Hughes will have the call for the first game, and Collins, Pose and Byington will have the call, and report from the field, for the remaining two games of the day.

The last game of the semifinals takes place at 4:30 PM ET on Saturday. The championship game is at 8 PM ET that evening. Collins and Pose will have the call for both games, with Byington reporting from the field.

Indiana won its first Big Ten Championship since 1949 and is the No. 1 seed for the first time in the event's history. Ohio State finished 15-9 in Big Ten play and has won eight conference tournaments, which is tied for second among all Big Ten teams. Nebraska finished the regular season 15-9 in Big Ten play, making the Big Ten Tournament for the second straight season. Minnesota finished Big Ten play with a 13-8 mark and will make its 28th tournament appearance, the most in Big Ten history. Illinois finished 14-10 during conference play and finished tied in the standings with Michigan, claiming the tiebreaker by overall winning percentage versus Big Ten common opponents. Michigan finished 14-10 in Big Ten play. The Wolverines will make their 22nd tournament appearance.

2013 Big Ten Baseball Tournament Schedule:


Game Dates Air Time (ET)
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1 Wednesday, May 22 1 PM
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2 Wednesday, May 22 4:30 PM
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3 Thursday, May 23 1 PM
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4 Thursday, May 23 4:30 PM
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5 Thursday, May 23 8 PM
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6 Friday, May 24 1 PM
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7 Friday, May 24 4:30 PM
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8 (Semifinal 1) Friday, May 24 8 PM
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9 (Semifinal 2) Saturday, May 25 4:30 PM
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10 (Championship) Saturday, May 25 8 PM
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11 (if necessary)* Sunday, May 26 1 PM
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*If winner of Game 10 is also winner of Game 9, Winner and Loser of Game 10 will play an 11(th) game on Sunday.

About BTN: A joint venture between the Big Ten Conference and Fox Networks, BTN is the first internationally distributed network dedicated to covering one of the premier collegiate conferences in the country. With more than 800 events, all in HD, the 24/7 network is the ultimate destination for Big Ten fans and alumni across the country, allowing them to see their favorite teams, regardless of where they live. BTN2Go is the 24/7 simulcast of BTN that delivers live and on-demand programming via the internet, smartphones and tablets to customers of participating video providers. Events include football, men's and women's basketball games; dozens of Big Ten Olympic sports and championship events; studio shows; and classic games. The network televises and streams more Olympic sporting events and women's sports than has ever been aired on any other network. Original programming highlights activities and accomplishments of some of the nation's finest universities. The groundbreaking Student U initiative provides real-world experience for students interested in careers in sports television. The network is available to more than 90 million homes across the United States and Canada, and currently has agreements with more than 300 affiliates, including AT&T U-Verse, Atlantic Broadband, Cablevision, Charter, Comcast, Cox, DirecTV, DISH Network, Insight, Mediacom, Rogers Cable (Canada), Shaw Cable and Shaw Direct (Canada), Time Warner Cable and Verizon FiOS. For additional information, go to www.BTN.com.

SOURCE BTN

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