At Globe Life Field event
Everything is bigger in Texas and it’s almost impossible to have an event with the caliber of teams throwing first pitches of the baseball season quite like the one that will lead off 2021.
Arlington’s Globe Life Field is set to play host to one of the most star-studded early season baseball showcases in recent memory with the Inaugural State Farm College Baseball Showdown beginning on February 1921. It’s an event that could rival the caliber of teams that would make it to Omaha and the College World Series as three Big 12 teams and three Southeastern Conference teams will go head-to-head over a three-day period.
“We know what the standard is and we’d like to think we’ll set it,” the Texas Rangers’ Executive Vice President of Sports and Entertainment Sean Decker said. “It is absolutely for us, our team, to establish this as a first-class experience for not just the student-athletes, but for the teams and the coaches, but for all the fans that will be coming in.
“Even with all the things we’ll be dealing with (COVID), we can create a worldclass atmosphere and a
world-class experience. The new facility gives us that opportunity. College baseball has always been a priority for us.”
Globe Life Field is a brand new, state of the art facility that was supposed to have its grand opening to a sea of Rangers fans in 2020. Instead, the season was played without fans for the most part but Major League Baseball allowed a limited amount of fans in the stands at the NLCS and World Series. It has also hosted the National Finals Rodeo last year.
This year’s college baseball event will also have limited attendance and the Rangers announced on Thursday that 14-15,000 fans will be permitted to watch from inside the park at a time. The park seats 40,300.
Along with social distancing, masks will be required inside the park and will have a no bag policy. Tickets are general admission and must be bought separately by day. Those tickets went on sale on the Rangers’ website on Thursday.
As far as the talent that the fans will see on display, it’s an embarrassment of riches. The event will house six of the top 10 teams in college baseball, according to the preseason D1baseball poll. No. 7 Mississippi State will be competing along with fellow SEC rivals in No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 8 Arkansas. The Big 12 counterparts are No. 3 Texas Tech, No. 9 Texas and No. 10 TCU.
The teams were chosen, in part, due to geographics and also because of the prestige that the programs possess. State was first considered when the Bulldogs took part in the Shriner’s College Classic in Houston, Texas, back during the 2018 season and went 3-0 against Louisiana, Houston and Sam Houston State.
“We are excited to open our season against three quality opponents in an amazing facility like Globe Life Field,” MSU coach Chris Lemonis said. “The opportunity for our guys to compete against some of the best programs in college baseball in a professional park will only help us later in the season. We’d like to thank the Texas Rangers organization for this opportunity, and we look forward to seeing some of our fans in Arlington this February.”
The opportunities ahead are gigantic for a State team looking to do big things in 2021 and it will have no time to waste. The Bulldogs will throw out the first pitch of the season by taking on Texas at 11 a.m. on February 19. MSU will also play TCU on Saturday and Texas Tech on Sunday. Those outings will also begin at 11 a.m.