After almost three months without college baseball, the sport will return this week in the form of the Collegiate Summer Baseball Invitational in Bryan, Texas. Four teams, comprised of players from over 70 Division 1 institutions, will compete in a Regional-style college baseball tournament starting Thursday night. Players from the SEC, ACC, Pac-12, and American, among other conferences, will participate in the three-day tournament.
"It's been a huge collective of a lot of people to get us to playing ball again, and we want to make sure it's the best baseball possible."
Visionary behind the CSBI, Uri Geva is excited to get back to baseball: "It's been a huge collective of a lot of people to get us to playing ball again, and we want to make sure it's the best baseball possible."
Player safety is one of the primary concerns. All players and staff were tested for COVID-19 upon arrival and have been isolated since. "They are committed to the game as much as we are," said Geva of the players coming in from around the country.
Additionally, each team has an 11-pitcher staff and none of the pitchers are expected to have extended outings. Find the full rosters for the CSBI here.
Highlighting the coaching lineup for the CSBI are former big leaguers, LaTroy Hawkins and Drew Sutton. Hawkins' MLB career spanned over 21 seasons.
Geva hopes that the tournament will inspire unity and that is reflected in the names chosen for the four teams. "We chose Unity, Freedom, Liberty, and Independence because those are all about what this country needs right now."
Thursday's games will be aired on ESPN2, featuring Kyle Peterson and Jason Benetti as broadcasters. All six games will be streaming live and on demand via the CSBI website with Geoff Blum and Brett Dolan leading the broadcasting team.
The CSBI is partnering to raise money for No Kid Hungry. 5% of each streaming subscription from the college baseball tournament will be donated to support the charity.
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