Major League Baseball today announced the expansion of its annual, Arizona-based tournament designed to celebrate the traditional start to the college baseball season. The MLB Desert Invitational tournament (formerly known as “MLB4”) will now include six teams from around the country, including three nationally-ranked teams, and will be hosted in three locations throughout the Greater Phoenix area – (1) Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, (2) Sloan Park and (3) Grand Canyon University.  The MLB-hosted event will be held the weekend of February 17th-19th, including three exclusive telecasts LIVE on MLB Network and streamed on MLB.com. MLB Network has been the exclusive home of this tournament since its inception in 2018. 

The Desert Invitational, which will be the fourth such event hosted by MLB in Arizona, will feature several of the best baseball programs in the nation – all of which are participating for the first time. These include the following:
•    University of Tennessee (Knoxville, TN) – #4 ranked 
•    University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ) – #33 ranked
•    Grand Canyon University (Phoenix, AZ) – #36 ranked
•    Michigan State University, (East Lansing, MI) 
•    Fresno State University (Fresno, CA)
•    University of California San Diego (San Diego, CA)

The full schedule (all times MT) for the 2023 Desert Invitational tournament is as follows (dates, times and match-ups are subject to change): 
Date    Time    Teams    Location
Feb. 17    11 a.m.    Michigan St. vs. Fresno St.    Sloan Park
Feb. 17    1 p.m.*    Grand Canyon vs. San Diego    SRF at Talking Stick
Feb. 17    6 p.m.*    Arizona vs. Tennessee    SRF at Talking Stick
Date    Time    Teams    Location
Feb. 18    1 p.m.    Fresno St. vs. Arizona    Sloan Park
Feb. 18    6 p.m.*    Tennessee vs. Grand Canyon    Grand Canyon University
Feb. 18    6 p.m.    San Diego vs. Michigan St.    Sloan Park
Date    Time    Teams    Location
Feb. 19    1 p.m.    Fresno St. vs. Grand Canyon    Sloan Park
Feb. 19    1 p.m.    San Diego vs. Tennessee    SRF at Talking Stick
Feb. 19    6 p.m.    Michigan St. vs. Arizona    SRF at Talking Stick
*MLB Network/MLB.com Broadcast*

Tickets 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:
•    #2 – Chase Dollander – RHP – Tennessee
•    #9 – Jacob Wilson – SS – Grand Canyon 
•    #22 – Maui Ahuna – SS Tennessee
•    #44 – Mitch Jebb – SS – Michigan State
•    #51 – Chase Davis – OF – Arizona 
•    #71 – T.J. Nichols – RHP – Arizona
•    #88 – Homer Bush Jr – Grand Canyon 

          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 and California State University (Fullerton).

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Contact: Steve Arocho or Aby Goodman, MLB Communications, (212) 931-7878, mlbpressbox.com, @MLB_PR.