OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — The start of the Big 12 baseball tournament will be pushed back to Thursday following the massive and deadly tornado that leveled the suburb of Moore. The double-elimination format was scrapped in favor of three days of pool play, with winners of two four-team divisions squaring off in a championship game now slated for Sunday.
The tournament was scheduled to begin Wednesday with four games, including West Virginia (31-25) vs. Kansas (31-24). But Monday’s catastrophic storm led conference officials to consider options ranging from modifying the schedule to canceling the tournament.
Even as teams arrived Tuesday morning for workouts at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark — which sits about 10 miles from where an F4 tornado killed dozens the previous day — coaches and athletics directors were meeting onsite and via teleconference.
The revised format will place Kansas State, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Baylor in one pool, opposite Oklahoma State, West Virginia, TCU and Kansas in the other. Each team will be guaranteed three games and the team with the best record in each pool will advance to the championship game.
In the case of a multiple-team tie, the higher-seeded team will advance.
The revised schedule (all start times Eastern):
Thursday
Pool 1
No. 4 Oklahoma vs. No. 5 Baylor, 10 a.m.
No. 1 K-State vs. No. 8 Texas Tech, 1:30 p.m.
Pool 2
No. 3 West Virginia vs. No. 6 Kansas, 5 p.m.
No. 2 Oklahoma State vs. No. 7 TCU, 8:30 p.m.
Friday
Pool 1
No. 4 Oklahoma vs. No. 8 Texas Tech, 10 a.m.
No. 1 K-State vs. No. 5 Baylor, 1:30 p.m.
Pool 2
No. 3 West Virginia vs. No. 7 TCU, 5 p.m.
No. 2 Oklahoma State vs. No. 6 Kansas, 8:30 p.m.
Saturday
Pool 1
No. 5 Baylor vs. No. 8 Texas Tech, 10 a.m.
No. 4 Oklahoma vs. No. 11 K-State, 1:30 p.m.
Pool 2
No. 3 West Virginia vs. No. 2 Oklahoma State, 5 p.m.
No. 6 Kansas vs. No. 7 TCU, 8:30 p.m.
Sunday
Championship: Winner Pool 1 vs. Winner Pool 2, 2 p.m.