Gophers Baseball Misses Big Ten Tournament After Getting Swept by Nebraska

Gophers baseball will officially miss the Big Ten tournament for the sixth straight full season after getting swept by No. 24 Nebraska at home to end the regular season. Here's how it happened.

Ty McDevitt's second season as Minnesota's head coach got off to a red-hot 14-3 start in nonconference play. Big Ten opponents presented a different story, as Minnesota began with a 5-13 record in the conference portion of its schedule. A sweep at home against Northwestern in late April catapulted a late-season push, but it was too little too late. They wrapped up the season with just one win in the final two weeks at Siebert Field against Michigan and Nebraska. Their 2026 season officially ended with a 30-23 overall record and an 11-19 mark in the Big Ten.

Final from Siebert Field.#Gopher⚾️ | #SkiUMah〽️ pic.twitter.com/2o9qSZ3FFD
— Minnesota Baseball (@GopherBaseball) May 16, 2026

The Gophers' 30 wins are their most as a program since the 2018 season, which ended with a trip to the super regional round of the NCAA Tournament. This year's team certainly made improvements from a year ago. The pitching took a major step forward with Texas A&M transfer Isaac Morton, and Weber Neels was one of the best players in the Big Ten this season.

McDevitt's rebuild of the program was never going to be an overnight thing, but missing the Big Ten tournament puts a serious damper on any improvements made this season. Minnesota needed to win just one game at home in the final weekend of the regular season, and it couldn't get it done.

The Gophers led 6-1 heading into the ninth inning on Friday night before Nebraska scored six runs to ultimately win 7-6. That collapse is one that should stick with the program all offseason. Minnesota had a better team this season, but they weren't able to win the big game when they needed to.

The Big Ten will send 12 of its 17 teams to Omaha for the conference tournament this week, and the Gophers will begin their preparation for the 2027 campaign.

Minnesota was once the class of the Big Ten conference under longtime head coach John Anderson, and those seasons are only getting further away. It feels like McDevitt has the program pointed in the right direction, but it's clear that they still have a lot of improvements left to be made before they return to that level. Calling the 2026 season a failure feels extreme, but calling it a success sounds a little too optimistic.

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