Arizona to play in Frisco College Baseball Classic in 2024

The last time Arizona made the College World Series, in 2021, its journey there included an early-season trip to Frisco, Texas. Maybe history will repeat itself in 2024.

The UA will play in the 2024 Frisco College Baseball Classic, a 3-day, 4-team tournament set for March 1-3, 2024. The Wildcats will face Alabama, Dallas Baptist and Indiana, each of whom like Arizona made the NCAA Tournament last season.

Arizona opens the tournament against Dallas Baptist, which went 47-16 last season and reached the finals of the Stillwater Regional. The middle game will be against Alabama, which was 43-21 in 2023 and hosted a regional, then the finale will put the Wildcats against an Indiana squad that was 43-20 and reached the Lexington Regional final.

The UA went 33-26 last season, earning a surprise bid to the NCAA tourney after reaching the Pac-12 Tournament final, but went 0-2 at the Fayetteville Regional.

The Wildcats have had success in early-season tourneys in recent years. They were perfect in the Frisco Classic in 2021, as well as the State Farm College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas to open the 2022 campaign. Last year the UA went 3-1 at the MLB Desert Invitational in Scottsdale and Mesa, opening with a 3-1 win over preseason No. 2 (and eventual CWS participant) Tennessee.

The 2024 season will begin Feb. 16, with Arizona likely to open with a nonconference series at Hi Corbett Field.