Indiana will host 2017 Big Ten Baseball tournament at Bart Kaufman Field

The Big Ten announced today that its 2017 baseball tournament, set for May 24-28, will be played at Bart Kaufman Field in Bloomington, Indiana.

Bart Kaufman, which will see its 5th season of Indiana baseball this season, opened in March 2013 and has 2,500 permanent seats. With the addition of temporary bleachers, the stadium holds approximately 4,000. The attendance record was set in the 2014 NCAA Regional when Indiana played Stanford and 4,312 fans crammed inside the confines.

The 2017 tournament will mark the first time since 2010 that one school has hosted the event. That year, Ohio State hosted the event in Columbus.

Fred Glass expressed excitement on behalf of the Indiana Athletic Department. "We are very pleased to host the 2017 Big Ten Tournament at Bart Kaufman Field," Glass said. "It is a fabulous baseball venue, and with our program's consistent level of success we have developed a terrific baseball atmosphere here at IU. This is a great event for the City of Bloomington, local businesses, and Indiana University. We cannot wait to welcome Big Ten baseball fans this May. I know they will love our Hoosier hospitality."

Manager Chris Lemonis echoed those sentiments, saying, "We are excited and honored to host the 2017 Big Ten Tournament, which is always one of best tournaments in the country. He added, "It acknowledges all the hard work by our staff and the athletic department that have hosted NCAA Regionals and built this beautiful facility. This will be a special opportunity for our devoted fan base to see some of the nation's top collegiate players in Bloomington, for what promises to be a fun week in May."

In four seasons at Bart Kaufman, Indiana is 83-26. The Hoosiers will hope to qualify for the 8-team event and use the home-field advantage to grab the Big Ten’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.