The Phoenix area is a well-known MLB Spring Training hotbed, where baseball diehards get to have an early look at some of the brightest young stars in the professional game once they’ve found a home with a major-league organization.

That trend will continue, albeit in the form of a college baseball tournament.

Oregon State's Travis Bazzana will be one of the highlights of the 2024 Sanderson Ford College Classic. Bazzana is expected to be a top prospect in the coming MLB draft, but he won't be the only player lighting up Arizona during the four-day tournament. 

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Here’s a look at all you need to know about this season’s Sanderson Ford College Classic, scheduled for Feb. 16-19 at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona:

What Teams Are Playing In The Sanderson Ford College Classic?

• Oregon State
• New Mexico
• Minnesota
• CSU Bakersfield

There’s a fearsome quartet of teams arriving in the desert, led by Oregon State and its long line of success on the diamond. 

The three-time national champions will be in their fourth season under the tutelage of coach Mitch Canham and seeking their seventh straight NCAA Tournament appearance. They’re a top-10 unit loaded with high-end draft capital. 

The Beavers, like everyone else in the field, will get four games at the Sanderson Ford College Classic. Three teams who played a year ago, return to the tournament, that includes OSU. 

Another is New Mexico, which OSU will face in the opening game of the event and the OSU season. 

New Mexico upset the Beavers 7-2 in Surprise a season ago and had some of the hottest bats in college baseball in 2023, finishing third nationally in team batting average (.329) and fourth in slugging percentage (.560). 

Minnesota is also returning. The program has struggled in recent seasons but is led by one of the most legendary names in the sport in coach John Anderson, is now entering his 42nd season leading the Golden Gophers on the diamond. 

Cal State Bakersfield rounds out this year’s foursome at the Sanderson Ford College Classic and is the new team on the block in the desert. The Roadrunners finished with an 18-34 record last season as a member of the Big West Conference.

Players To Watch

Travis Bazzana, INF, Oregon State

Australia has had its share of great baseball players in the past, including former MLB All-Star relievers Grant Balfour and Liam Hendriks, but Bazzana, a junior from Sydney, is being hyped as the Land Down Under’s best emerging talent.

The No. 3 overall player in MLB.com’s 2024 prospect rankings, Bazzana’s stock already was rising after a stellar season in Corvallis a year ago, when he batted .374 and flashed elite speed with a school-record 36 stolen bases from 39 attempts. 

Then, Bazzana spent the summer with the Falmouth Commodores in the Cape Cod League and ripped it to shreds. He finished as the batting champion of what many consider to be the best summer collegiate baseball league in the country, while also being named the league’s MVP. 

No Aussie has ever been picked first in the MLB Draft, but Bazzana can further build his case for No. 1 with another great year at OSU—and the grind to making that happen starts at the Sanderson Ford College Classic.

Reed Spenrath, 1B/OF, New Mexico

After two years at the junior college level and one year at TCU, Spenrath settled into his new surroundings at New Mexico immediately last season and has seemed to plant roots.

Both he and the Lobos will be better off for it. 

The main source of power behind one of the most productive offenses in college baseball in 2023, Spenrath was awarded a first-team All-Mountain West Conference nod after smashing 19 home runs and 65 RBIs in his first season in Albuquerque, finishing with a .716 slugging percentage, 1.133 OPS and three multi-homer games. 

The 6-foot-5 Texan also provides a strong glove, with only two errors in 358 chances for a .995 percentage across first base and right field. 

Spenrath will be pushing to send a ball (or a few) out of the park in Surprise, as he looks to up his draft stock as a senior.

Elijah Hainline, INF, Oregon State

Instead of playing against the Beavers this season, Hainline will play for them—and he may play an important role in OSU’s season. 

The junior transferred from Washington State in the offseason after a breakout campaign in Pullman in 2023, improving his batting average by 50 points from his freshman to sophomore season.

Hainlinea also became the first Cougar since 2010 to record double-digit figures in doubles, home runs and stolen bases in a single season. He entered the transfer portal and didn’t have to look very far away for his newest destination. 

Primarily a second baseman last season at Wazzu, Hainline should be one of the favorites to take the open shortstop slot left behind by the departed Kyle Dernedde (transferred to Michigan) and give the Beavers an extra dependable bat in the lineup from the middle infield.

How To Watch The Sanderson Ford College Baseball Classic

Watch the 2024 Sanderson Ford College Baseball Classic on FloBaseball and the FloSports app.

FloBaseball will be streaming several season-opening college baseball tournaments, including the Shriners Children's College Showdown, Snowbird Baseball and the Kubota College Baseball Series.

2024 Sanderson Ford College Baseball Classic Schedule

All times Eastern

Friday, February 16 

• Game 1 - New Mexico vs Oregon State - 2pm ET 
• Game 2 - Minnesota vs CSU Bakersfield - 7pm ET

Saturday, February 17 

• Game 3 - Minnesota vs Oregon State - 2pm ET 
• Game 4 - CSU Bakersfield vs New Mexico - 7pm ET

Sunday, February 18 

• Game 5 - CSU Bakersfield vs Oregon State - 2pm ET 
• Game 6 - New Mexico vs Minnesota - 7pm ET

Monday, February 19 

• Game 7 - Minnesota vs Oregon State - 2pm ET 
• Game 8 - CSU Bakersfield vs New Mexico - 7pm ET

Where Is The Sanderson Ford College Classic?

The Sanderson Ford College Classic is held at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona, also known as the Spring Training home of the Kansas City Royals and the reigning world champion Texas Rangers.

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