College baseball is back, and there’s no better place to take in the action on opening weekend than on MLB Network and MLB Digital (MLB.TV, MLB.com and MLB app), which will be carrying the MLB Desert Invitational. Three of the 12 showcase games will also be shown live on MLB Network, while all the games will be streamed on MLB’s digital platforms.
Some of the country’s top amateur talent is in the Phoenix metro area for the three-day tournament, which will run Feb. 14-16, with two Top 100 2024 Draft prospects among the participants.
The event features eight teams for the second consecutive year: Austin Peay, Grand Canyon, Nebraska, New Mexico, San Diego State, Seton Hall, UC Irvine and Vanderbilt.
Here is the complete schedule for the weekend-long event (all times ET):
Bolded games = MLB Network and MLB Digital
The top two Draft prospects at the Desert Invitational showed out on the first day as Vanderbilt held on to win its season opener. Starting pitcher J.D. Thompson (No. 65 Draft) struck out six batters across 4 2/3 innings of scoreless ball while limiting the Antelopes to three hits and one walk. RJ Austin (No. 79 Draft) doubled on the first pitch of the game and finished with three hits, an RBI, a run and a smooth catch in center field. Grand Canyon’s Zach Yorke crushed a two-run homer nearly a year to the day that he went deep in the 2024 Desert Invitational.
Nebraska starter Mason McConnaughey recorded nine of his 11 outs via strikeout but ran into trouble in the fourth inning against UC Irvine. Jacob McCombs doubled twice and Colin Yeaman tripled and drove in three runs as eight Anteaters racked up multiple hits, RBIs or runs.
Meanwhile, home runs were flying in the final two games. Brody Szako and Gus Freeman went deep for Austin Peay, Josh McAlister homered for New Mexico, Jonathan Smith hit a roundtripper for San Diego State and AJ Soldra, Kevin Milewski and Joey Calabretti crushed dingers for Seton Hall.
Saturday
2:30 p.m.: New Mexico vs. UC Irvine
3 p.m.: Seton Hall vs. Austin Peay
7:30 p.m.: San Diego State vs. Grand Canyon
8 p.m.: Vanderbilt vs. Nebraska
Sunday
2 p.m.: UC Irvine vs. Vanderbilt
2:30 p.m.: New Mexico vs. Seton Hall
7 p.m.: Nebraska vs. San Diego
7:30 p.m.: Austin Peay vs. Grand Canyon
Vanderbilt: LHP J.D. Thompson (No. 65), OF RJ Austin (No. 79)
Grand Canyon: 1B Zach Yorke, RHP Isaac Lyon
Nebraska: OF Gabe Swansen, RHP Mason McConnaughey
Seton Hall: RHP Ryan Reich, OF Aiden Robbins
Austin Peay: OF John Bay
UC Irvine: 1B Anthony Martinez
New Mexico: OF Khalil Walker
San Diego St.: RHP Omar Serrano, SS Finley Bates
This year’s MLB Desert Invitational (formerly known as “MLB 4”) is the sixth such event hosted by MLB in Arizona. The majority of games will take place at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick (Spring Training home to the Rockies and D-backs) and Sloan Park (home to the Cubs).
The tournament offers players the opportunity to compete on diamonds that they hope to one day call home upon reaching the professional ranks. Last year, Caleb Lomavita (Cal), Kaelen Culpepper (Kansas State), Austin Overn (Cal), Rodney Green (Cal), and Tyson Neighbors (Kansas State) went on to parlay their successes into becoming early selections in the 2024 Draft with the Nationals, Twins, Orioles, Athletics and Padres, respectively.
