Arizona Diamondbacks to play Arizona State, Arizona and Grand Canyon baseball teams
Nov 25, 2014, 3:25 PM | Updated: 3:26 pm
The Arizona Diamondbacks have announced an annual Collegiate Baseball Series in which they will face each of Arizona’s Division I NCAA baseball teams.
The series kicks off on March 3, 2015, when the D-backs will take on the Arizona State Sun Devils at Salt River Fields to kick off Spring Training.
The Diamondbacks are scheduled to face ASU again in 2018, the Arizona Wildcats in 2016 and 2019, and the Grand Canyon Antelopes in 2017 and 2020.
Each school boasts national championships in baseball, including five NCAA Division I titles for ASU, four NCAA titles for Arizona and four NAIA Baseball World Series championships for Grand Canyon.
“We are proud to have three very decorated Division I college baseball programs in our state,” D-backs President and CEO Derrick Hall said. “The collegiate series will be a wonderful opportunity to welcome these talented student-athletes at the award-winning Salt River Fields for a unique baseball experience. The D-backs already have several great ties to each program and we hope these games will further enhance our relationship with each university.”
Several players and coaches for the Diamondbacks are former Sun Devils, including current player Tuffy Gosewisch, prospect Jake Barrett, minor league instructors Mike Benjamin and Jacob Cruz, and former players Willie Bloomquist and Jake Elmore.
Manager Chip Hale is a former Arizona Wildcat, as are D-backs alumni Daniel Schlereth, Ed Vosberg and Alan Zinter.
The current head coach of Grand Canyon, Andy Stankiewicz, was a member of the Diamondbacks inaugural team in 1998.
Tickets for the D-backs-Arizona State matchup go on sale at 10 a.m. on Jan. 10, and are priced between $9 and $28. Tickets can be purchased at the ticket office at Chase Field, on the team website, or by calling either 888-490-0383 or 480-362-9467.