Final version in Texas starts Wednesday
Arizona is currently in Texas, preparing for the Big 12 Tournament later this week at Globe Life Field in Arlington. Next year it won’t have to go so far to begin the postseason.
The Big 12 announced Monday that its conference baseball tourney is moving to the Phoenix area for 2026, settling in at Surprise Stadium on the northwest side of the valley.
#Big12BSB is headed out west pic.twitter.com/zAiQ2k8ZzS
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) May 19, 2025
The 10,714-seat Surprise Stadium is the Spring Training home of the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers and is also the site of a preseason college baseball tournament each year on opening weekend. The UA is scheduled to play in that event in 2026, giving it an opportunity to feel out the new conference tourney digs ahead of time.
“For the Arizona schools it’s great,” UA coach Chip Hale said. “Everybody will be out there and we’ll get good baseball.”
The Pac-12 finally got into the conference tournament game in 2022 and held it at Scottsdale Stadium, and each year the games were well-attended not just by UA and ASU fans. The Wildcats went a combined 8-4 in the Pac-12 Tournament, reaching the title game twice in three years and winning the final conference tourney championship in 2024.
Arizona’s first Big 12 Tournament sees it as the No. 4 seed and opening play Thursday at 7 a.m. PT against the winner of Wednesday’s first round game between No. 5 ASU and No. 12 BYU. The game will be shown on ESPN+.