2024 Frisco Classic Preview
As another Minor League Baseball season creeps closer by the day, we’ll have baseball in Frisco on this first weekend in March! The Frisco Classic returns for an eighth year in North Texas and features four great college baseball teams: Alabama, Indiana, Dallas Baptist University and Arizona.
For a full schedule and tickets, click here.
Before you head out to Riders Field to take in the action, here’s what you need to know!
№ 16 Alabama (8–0)
The Crimson Tide come into Frisco during the dawn of a new time in the program. First-year head coach Rob Vaughn joined Bama from Maryland and it has been a wonderful start to his tenure thus far.
Through February 25th, the Tide are undefeated, including four-straight run-rule wins over Alabama State and three over Valparaiso. Both sides of the ball have been extremely impressive with Bama hitting .364/.472/.660/1.132 as a team through eight games with a whopping 17 home runs. On the mound, the Tide have a 1.31 ERA as a club
Players to watch:
RHP Ben Hess: If there is one Alabama game that might be a must see, it’s Friday night when Hess will take the hill against Indiana. Hess is the №45 draft prospect in 2024 by MLB.com and can reach up to 99 with his electric fastball.
OF TJ McCants: McCants is a transfer from Ole Miss and was with the team during their National Championship season in 2022. This season, he has already hit five home runs in eight games and driven in 17 runs while slashing .433/.500/1.100/1.600.
№ 20 Indiana (6–1)
The Hoosiers are off to a good start as well in 2024 with their only loss being to №12 Duke to open the season. Over the weekend, Indiana swept Baylor in Waco, outscoring them 29–10 in the three games.
Like Alabama, they have been dominant on both sides of the ball this season, slashing .319/.405/.569/.974 while averaging 8.6 runs per game on the offensive side. From the hill, they have a 3.34 ERA as a team.
Players to watch:
OF Devin Taylor: Taylor is coming off a 2023 campaign in which he was named the BIG10 Freshman of the Year in 2023 and was a Freshman All-American, but he has exceeded expectations through the first part of the 2024 season thus far. Through seven games, Taylor is hitting a wild .552 (16-for-29)/.629/.897/1.526 with three homers and eight RBIs.
RHP Connor Foley: The sophomore righty has been dominant this season, allowing just three hits over 10.0 shutout innings. In those innings, he has whiffed 14 and walked just six.
№ 25 DBU (7–0)
DBU has been off to a hot start behind an elite offense, scoring eight or more runs in every game this season (10.6 runs per game) with a ridiculous +41 run differential. Their pitching staff owns a 1.29 ERA.
DBU has made the Regionals in nine-straight seasons, going back to 2014.
Players to watch:
RHP Ryan Johnson: Johnson is the №68 draft prospect by MLB.com and has impressed so far through two starts in 2024, going 1–0 with a 3.65 ERA across 12.1 innings. After allowing five runs in his first start, he blanked Central Michigan through 7.0 innings with 13 strikeouts in his last outing.
INF Miguel Santos: The fifth year from Fort Worth has been crushing the ball to start the season, homering in four-straight games from February 18th-24th and has 11 RBIs over his seven games.
Arizona (4–3)
The most storied team in the Classic, Arizona has collected four College World Series titles and made eight College World Series Finals, with the most recent coming in 2016 (loss to Coastal Carolina). Coming off of a 33–26 season in 2023, Chip Hale enters his third season at the helm of the Wildcats.
Off to a slow start in the first couple of weeks, the Wildcats lost two of three to San Diego over the weekend, but are still hitting .324/.399/.522/.921 and averaging 9.7 runs per game.
Players to watch:
OF Emilio Corona: The senior hit .336 with a 1.060 OPS in 2023 and has started off 2024 with three home runs in his first seven games with a .959 OPS.
INF Garen Caulfield: A third-year player for the Wildcats, Caulfield is hitting .500 (13-for-26)/.533/.577/1.100 through his first seven games with 10 RBIs. The Sacramento, California native played 109 games through his first two seasons for Arizona.
We’ll see you out at Riders Field for the Frisco Classic, beginning on Friday, March 1st!
