The MLB Desert Invitational will be held in Arizona from Feb. 17 through 20.
To start the season, the Arizona baseball team has been given the challenge of taking on the No. 2-ranked University of Tennessee at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, Arizona on Feb. 17 at 6 p.m. The Volunteers baseball team finished off the 2022 season with a sterling record of 57-9.
The Wildcats have been known for taking down top teams early in the season to climb the rankings. It wouldn’t be smart for the Volunteers to underestimate this Arizona baseball team.
On Saturday, the Wildcats will have a quick turnaround as they play at 1 p.m. at Sloan Park in Mesa, Arizona. The team will face a California State University Fresno baseball team who hit .306 as a team in 2022 while holding their opponents to a .274 batting average.
The California State Bulldogs have made some improvements since going 27-28 in 2022, but it will take more than that to beat this solid and historic Wildcats ball club.
The Wildcats are then back in Scottsdale at Salt River Fields to play Michigan State University on Sunday at 6 p.m. The Spartans will have their work cut out for them considering their struggles on offense and on the mound in 2022 resulting in a 24-30 record. The team hit .271 while their opponents hit .292.
The team ERA was 6.16, so Arizona hitters should have the green light to lay it on the Spartan secondary.
To conclude the invitational, head coach Chip Hale and the Wildcats will take on the University of California, San Diego, who ended the 2022 season with a 24-32 record. Last season, the Tritons struggled at the plate hitting only .268. However, they had success on the mound, holding their opponents to a .266 average, so we may have a pitcher’s duel this Monday in Mesa at 1 p.m.
The Arizona baseball team will have their work cut out for them against Tennessee, but they should be able to rack up a few wins before heading back to Tucson to face West Virginia University at Hi Corbett Field on Friday, Feb. 24, at 6 p.m.
Follow Cole Johnson on Twitter
