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Big Ten News: Tony Petitti officially introduced as new commissioner

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Tony Petitti has officially been introduced as the new commissioner of the Big Ten Conference. (Tony Petitti / Big Ten)

The Big Ten Conference has officially introduced its new commissioner — Tony Petitti. The league made the reports official on Wednesday afternoon. Tony Petitti replaces Kevin Warren who will become the new President of the Chicago Bears.

Tony Petitti has spent time as the deputy commissioner and COO of MLB and President and CEO of MLB Network.

Petitti comes to the Big Ten with numerous years and experience working with tv rights acquisitions.

Below is the full and official release from the Big Ten Conference.

ROSEMONT, Ill. –

The Big Ten Conference Council of Presidents and Chancellors (COP/C) announced today that Tony Petitti has been named the seventh commissioner of the Big Ten Conference. He will begin his tenure on May 15. He replaces Commissioner Kevin Warren, whose final day with the Big Ten Conference is Friday, April 14. Warren was named president and chief executive officer of the Chicago Bears.

Petitti is a proven leader who brings nearly four decades of sports, business and media industry acumen to the Big Ten Conference. He served as deputy commissioner and chief operating officer of Major League Baseball and president and chief executive officer of MLB Network.

A 14-time National Sports Emmy Award winner, Petitti has held senior executive roles at CBS Sports and ABC Sports overseeing rights acquisition deals for a variety of sports leagues and collegiate and professional sports events, including the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, regular season men’s basketball, college football, NFL, PGA Tour, the Masters, U.S. Open Tennis Championships, and the Little League World Series, as well as leading in the creation of the Bowl Championship Series to determine college football’s national champion.

The search for the seventh Big Ten Conference commissioner was led by the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors’ Executive Search Committee. University of Maryland President Darryll J. Pines served as chair alongside University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel, The Ohio State University President Kristina M. Johnson, and Chair of the Council of Presidents and Chancellors and University of Illinois Chancellor Robert Jones.

“I would like to thank all the candidates who spent time with us during the commissioner search process as each illustrated outstanding leadership qualities and a breadth of experience,” President Pines said. “The Big Ten Conference is in an extraordinary position of strength. Tony’s capabilities to navigate the complexities of changing marketplace environments, history as a collaborative leader, and passion for academics and collegiate athletics made him the right leader, at the right time, for the Big Ten Conference.”

TurnkeyZRG, a leading talent recruitment firm in sports, entertainment, music, and media assisted the Big Ten Conference Council of Presidents and Chancellors. TurnkeyZRG conducted a comprehensive and inclusive recruitment process that delivered a diverse slate of potential candidates from within collegiate athletics, professional sports, media, government and more.

“We are at a time in collegiate athletics that we need leaders with innovative forethought, the highest principles, and a spirit of fairness and partnership,” Chancellor Jones said. “Tony brings a dynamic style of leadership and impeccable integrity to the conference. The entire Council of Presidents and Chancellors is thrilled to have him serve as the seventh commissioner in Big Ten Conference history.”

The 14 current Big Ten Conference member institutions, in addition to the two new members who will join the conference in 2024, participated in the interview process and the final selection of Petitti.

“At this important and transformational time in collegiate athletics, it is truly my great honor to be chosen by the Council of Presidents and Chancellors as the commissioner of the Big Ten Conference,” Petitti said. “I am energized to work alongside the best athletics directors, coaches, conference staff and board in the country as – together – we continue to elevate the academic and athletic experiences and resources for our 14, soon-to-be 16, world-class universities with nearly 10,000 incredible student-athletes. Thank you to the extraordinary people and places that have led me to this next challenge in my career. I am ready to get to work for the Big Ten Conference community.”

Most recently Petitti was recruited by Liberty Media and The Baupost Group to serve as an advisor to evaluate sports and media properties.

As Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer for Major League Baseball (2014-2020), Petitti was involved in all aspects of MLB including leading broadcast and digital media, special events (All-Star Game, Home Run Derby, MLB postseason scheduling and operations), MLB Network, MLB social media, consumer products and licensing, marketing, youth development, international, and security.

He closely collaborated with 30 MLB team owners and presidents, and key business and operational partners to incorporate ideas and feedback to improve the creation and execution of strategic initiatives. Petitti also participated on MLB’s Competition Committee.

As President and Chief Executive Officer of MLB Network (2008-2014), Petitti led the imagination, creation, buildout and launch of MLB Network in 50 million homes which, at the time, was the largest launch of a cable network in history. Petitti’s vision touched every aspect of content and operations including programming, on-air talent, production team, studio creation, and supporting facilities.

Prior to MLB, Petitti was the executive vice president of CBS Sports (2002-2008) and was an integral part of the network’s NFL coverage. He led the sports programming division and had added responsibility as executive producer for all CBS Sports telecasts. Read full biography.

About the Big Ten Conference

The Big Ten Conference is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching and public service. Founded in 1896, the Big Ten has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in the lives of students competing in intercollegiate athletics and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness, and competitiveness. The broad-based programs of the 14 Big Ten institutions will provide over $200 million in direct financial support to more than 9,500 students for more than 11,000 participation opportunities on 350 teams in 42 different sports. The Big Ten sponsors 28 official conference sports, 14 for men and 14 for women, including the addition of men’s ice hockey and men’s and women’s lacrosse since 2013. For more information, visit www.bigten.org.

Follow Hoosier Illustrated on Twitter @Indiana_FRN to stay up to date on all of the news, updates and coverage of Indiana University athletics. 

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Indiana baseball bows out of Big Ten Tournament, await NCAA seeding

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The Indiana baseball program bows out of the Big Ten Tournament and will now wait to hear its name called for the NCAA Tournament. (Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen-USA TODAY NETWORK)

The Indiana baseball program now waits. Following back-to-back losses in the Big Ten Tournament, the Hoosiers are now in wait-and-see mode until the NCAA Selection.

The NCAA will announce the tournament field on Monday but until then, Indiana will have a few days to prepare to hear its name called.

As of Sunday, the Indiana baseball program is slated to be in the tournament field. It is projected as a 3-seed in the Terre Haute region. The Hoosiers would play Tennessee in the first round.

The 1-seed in that region is Indiana State while the 4-seed is Wright State.

The Hoosiers finished the season 41-18 overall and 16-8 in the Big Ten. Going into the last weekend of the regular season, Indiana was tied atop the Big Ten. After a bit of a slip up, it finished second in the conference.

It was the first time since 2013 that Indiana reached 40 wins in the regular season and first since 2018 to hit the mark at all.

It was the ninth time in Indiana baseball program history to hit the 40-win mark.

“We’ve done the things we needed to do,” IU head coach Jeff Mercer said heading into the Big Ten Tournament. “We control our own destiny. We put ourselves in position to play in the (NCAA tourney).”

The Hoosiers won their first matchup in the Big Ten Tournament against Illinois before falling to Iowa and Michigan to bow out.

This year will be the first NCAA Tournament since 2019 for the Hoosiers.

SEE ALSO: Indiana Baseball: Devin Taylor highlights All-Big Ten awards for Hoosiers, six total honored

Make sure to follow Hoosier Illustrated on Twitter @Indiana_FRN and YouTube to stay up to date on all of the news, updates and coverage of Indiana University athletics. 

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Indiana Baseball: Devin Taylor highlights All-Big Ten awards for Hoosiers, six total honored

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Devin Taylor highlighted the postseason awards for the Indiana baseball program as six total Hoosiers were honored. (Devin Taylor / Indiana Athletics)

The Indiana baseball program reached a milestone this year that it hadn’t done in the regular season in a decade. On top of that, numerous players received All-Big Ten honors heading into postseason play.

After reaching the 40-win regular season mark for the first time since 2013, Indiana heads into the Big Ten Tournament as the 2-seed. A large reason for the success has been due to freshman Devin Taylor. On Tuesday, he received the Big Ten Freshman of the Year award.

Taylor’s numbers this season were tremendous. He led all Big Ten freshmen in batting average (.328), OPS (1.146), runs scored (58), home runs (16), RBIs (56), total bases (121), slugging percentage (.695), walks (34) and on-base percentage (.451). His 16 home runs this year rank third all-time by all Big Ten freshman.

Taylor was also named to the All-Big Ten First Team.

The other member of the All-Big Ten First Team is sophomore relief pitcher Ryan Kraft. Kraft led all Big Ten pitchers in ERA (2.51) this year in 19 appearances and 57.1 innings of work.

He had 49 strikeouts and was 6-1 on the season. He also had five saves.

On the All-Big Ten Second Team were Phillip Glasser, Luke Sinnard and Brock Tibbits.

Glasser started the year off with a bang, reaching base in the first 45 games of the season. He had a .350 batting average and team-best 83 hits to go with 63 runs scored.

Sinnard led the Big Ten in strikeouts with 104, including three games with 10+ strikeouts. He had a 4.48 era in 78.1 innings pitched. Sinnard finished the season 11-3.

He needs five more strikeouts to set the Indiana single-season program strikeout record.

Rounding out the second team was Tibbits. He had a .387 batting average and finished with 10 homers and 64 RBIs.

Sophomore Josh Pyne was the lone representative for the Indiana baseball program on the Third Team. He finished the year with a.311 batting average and five home runs and 51 RBIs.

Tyler Cerny was also on the All-Big Ten Freshman Team. 

The Indiana baseball program begins its Big Ten Tournament on Tuesday.

SEE ALSO: Five thoughts on transfer portal activity for Indiana basketball following portal deadline

Make sure to follow Hoosier Illustrated on Twitter @Indiana_FRN and YouTube to stay up to date on all of the news, updates and coverage of Indiana University athletics. 

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Indiana baseball reaches 40-win mark, secures 2-seed in B1G Tournament

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Indiana Hoosiers players huddle up before a NCAA Big Ten Conference baseball game against Iowa, Thursday, May 19, 2022, at Duane Banks Field in Iowa City, Iowa.

For the first time since 2013, Indiana baseball posted its first 40-win regular season with the Hoosiers’ 6-5 victory over Michigan State on Saturday. The last time Indiana won 40 games overall was in 2018 with 37 of them coming in the regular season.

This is only the ninth time in program history that the Indiana baseball program has posted a 40-win season.

Not only did the win over the Spartans get Indiana to achieve that mark, it also secured a second place finish in the conference standings as well. Now, Indiana heads into the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 2 overall seed.

Going into the Michigan State series, Indiana baseball head coach Jeff Mercer knew exactly the opportunity the Hoosiers had in front of them.

“We’ve done the things we needed to do,” Mercer said. “We control our own destiny. We put ourselves in position to play in the (NCAA tourney).”

The Spartans would have the opening score for the first time over the weekend with a single run in the first inning. The Hoosiers when then go onto tie it up in the third inning before scoring twice in the fifth inning, once in the sixth, and twice in the eighth inning.

Michigan State only added single runs in the fifth and sixth as well as two runs in the ninth.

Freshman star out fielder Devin Taylor would post his fourth multi-home run game of the season, which is his third time doing so in the Big Ten. He would move into No. 3 on the all-time Big Ten freshman home run charts.

Indiana baseball will now turn their focus to the Big Ten Tournament, which begins on Tuesday (May 23rd) at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.

The No. 2-seed Indiana will start play at 2 p.m. The Hoosiers finish the regular season 16-8 in the conference, 40-16 overall.

SEE ALSO: Indiana Football: Tom Allen dips in latest CBS Sports’ 2023 coaching rankings

Make sure to follow Hoosier Illustrated on Twitter @Indiana_FRN and YouTube to stay up to date on all of the news, updates and coverage of Indiana University athletics. 

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