Indiana baseball will spend the early part of its 2024 campaign at the eighth annual Frisco College Baseball Classic, the tournament announced Thursday morning. The tournament will be played at Riders Field in Frisco, Texas, the home of the Texas Rangers minor league Double-A affiliate, the Frisco RoughRiders.
The Hoosiers are joined by the University of Alabama, the University of Arizona and Dallas Baptist University, all of which won 40 or more games in 2023. Indiana has played against Alabama once all-time, rolling over the Crimson Tide 10-7 in 1989. The Hoosiers have never squared off against Arizona and Dallas Baptist on the diamond.
All four teams in the 2024 classic made the 2023 NCAA tournament. Alabama was eliminated after a 22-5 loss to Wake Forest University in the Super Regionals, Arizona was eliminated after back-to-back losses in the Fayetteville Regional and Dallas Baptist was knocked out by Oral Roberts University 6-5 in the Stillwater Regional. Indiana was eliminated by the University of Kentucky in the Lexington Regional, falling 4-2 in the winner-take-all final.
The Hoosiers are headed to Texas for the third straight season. They played in the 2022 Karbach Round Rock Classic two seasons ago and visited Austin for a three-game series versus the University of Texas last season, losing the first two games but winning the series finale.
Indiana has opened every non-COVID-19 season with non-conference opponents under current head coach Jeff Mercer. Indiana’s 2021 schedule was entirely comprised of Big Ten opponents.
Indiana’s record in non-conference season-opening series since 2019 is 4-8, taking two out of three at the University of Memphis in 2019 and picking up series finale wins at No. 11 Louisiana State University in 2020 and Auburn University in 2023. The Hoosiers were swept by Clemson University in three games to begin 2022.
Tickets for the 2024 Frisco College Baseball Classic can be purchased at FriscoClassic.com.
