All four teams participating in the Desert Baseball Tournament arrived Thursday and had walk throughs and light work outs at Palm Springs Stadium so they can get a feel for the field and top notch facilities. The weather is scheduled to be perfect and sunny throughout the four day round robin tournament. Each squad will play each other at least once.

The 2013 NCAA division one College Baseball season begins tomorrow. Starting Friday, student-athletes from across the country will play for a chance to go to Omaha, Nebraska in June and participate in the coveted College World Series. The marquee tournament this weekend is the Desert Baseball Tournament as it features No. 6 Oregon State, Gonzaga University (receiving votes), Utah Valley University (receiving votes) and University of California Riverside.


The 2013 Desert Baseball Tournament


The Beavers won back-to-back College World Series titles in both 2006 and 2007. The Beavers have produced a plethora of talent over the years. Most notable is Boston Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury used Oregon State as a spring board to be selected to an All-Star game, win a Gold Glove and a World Series title.

Gonzaga produced three-time All-Star and former National League Rookie of the Year Jason Bay who is now with the Seattle Mariners.

UC Riverside produced former standout MLB closer Troy Percival. Percival was a four-time All-Star and 2002 World Series Champion with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Utah Valley is coming off a season in which they were undefeated in conference play. They return a strong nucleus from last year’s squad and hope for some early season resume building wins.

All four teams in the tournament have high hopes and expectations. Baseball America came out with their preseason bracketology projections for the 2013 field of 64 and it has Oregon State as a No. 1 seed and Gonzaga as a No. 3 seed. Both teams are predicted to go to the Corvallis, Oregon regional so this weekend could be a foreshadow of things to come.


Ticket prices for the Desert Baseball Tournament are as follows…

Tournament Pass for all eight games is $50

Individual Day Pass is $20

Kids 12 and under (admission to final game of day and Monday) is $10


The following is the weekend schedule for the Desert Baseball Tournament

Friday, February 15, 2013

Game One: Gonzaga vs. Utah Valley at 10:00 a.m.

Game Two: Utah Valley vs. Oregon State at 1:00 p.m.

Game Three: UC Riverside vs. Gonzaga at 4:00 p.m.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Game One: Gonzaga vs. Oregon State at 12:30 p.m.

Game Two: Utah Valley vs. UC Riverside at 4:30 p.m.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Game One: Utah Valley vs. Gonzaga at 10:00 a.m.

Game Two: UC Riverside vs. Oregon State at 1:00 p.m.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Game One: UC Riverside vs. Oregon State at 8:30 a.m.


All games will be played at Palm Springs Stadium which is located on 1901 East Baristo Road. For more information please call the Palm Springs Stadium main office at 760-778-4487.