The following was recently announced by Major League Baseball – Division-I collegiate baseball season opens with MLB-hosted “Desert Invitational” set for February 16th-19th; Annual Round-Robin Style Tournament Will Host Eight Teams – The Most in Event History; MLB Network to Air Three LIVE Showcase Matchups, With Additional Streaming on MLB.com
Major League Baseball announced the eight Division-I teams who will compete in the 2024 MLB Desert Invitational, MLB’s annual Arizona-based tournament designed to celebrate the traditional start to the college baseball season. The tournament will be held the weekend of February 16th-19th in a round-robin format across three locations throughout the Greater Phoenix area – (1) Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, (2) Sloan Park, and (3) Grand Canyon University. MLB Network will exclusively air three LIVE games with Gregg Caserta, Dan Plesac and Jim Callis on the call, while eight of the 12 contests will stream on MLB.com.
The Desert Invitational will feature some of the most outstanding baseball programs in the nation – nearly all of which are participating in the invitational for the first time. These include the following:
- *Boston College *(Chestnut Hill, MA) – 1st appearance
- *Brigham Young University *(Provo, UT) – 1st appearance
- *Georgetown University *(Washington, D.C.) – 1st appearance
- *Grand Canyon University *(Phoenix, AZ) – 2nd appearance
- *Kansas State University *(Manhattan, KS) – 1st appearance
- *Ohio State University *(Columbus, OH) – 1st appearance
- *University of California *(Berkeley, CA) – 2nd appearance
- *University of Southern California *(Los Angeles, CA) – 1st appearance
The full schedule (all times MT) for the 2024 Desert Invitational tournament is as follows (dates, times and match-ups are subject to change):
*Tickets for the 2024 Desert invitational are currently available at *https://brushfire.com/mlbdesertinvitational/. Children 12 and under are free.
The showcase is set to feature MLB Pipeline Top 100 Draft prospects including:
- #21 – Caleb Lomavita – C – California
- #28 – Kaelen Culpepper – SS – Kansas State
- #69 – Tyson Neighbors – RHP – Kansas State
- #96 – Rodney Green – OF – California
Historically, the tournament has featured Vanderbilt University, University of Michigan, Texas Christian University, California Polytechnic State University (San Luis Obispo), University of Connecticut, University of Virginia, California State University (Fullerton), University of Tennessee, Michigan State University, and the University of Arizona, among others.
Notable MLB youth development alumni of the MLB Desert Invitational include 2023 first round draft pick Chase Davis (#21, STL) and fourth round draft pick** Homer Bush Jr. (#128, SD). Additional MLB youth development alumni set to participate in this year’s Desert Invitational include **Adam Magpoc (Boston College), Gavin Taylor (BYU), CJ Richard (Ohio State), Tyler Wilson (GCU), Troy Sanders (GCU), and more.Following coverage of the MLB Desert Invitational, MLB Network’s coverage of college baseball will continue with the Andre Dawson Classic on Friday, February 23rd.
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