The second annual Live Like Lou Las Vegas College Baseball Classic brings four teams to Las Vegas Ballpark starting Friday, including two ranked squads and a defending College World Series participant.
No. 22 Vanderbilt (7-2) opens the round-robin tournament at 2 p.m. Friday against UC Irvine. The Commodores are looking to rebound after last season’s historic NCAA tournament exit as the No. 1 overall seed that failed to reach the regional final.
No. 24 Oregon (8-0) faces Arizona at 6 p.m. Friday. The Wildcats reached the College World Series last year but have stumbled to a 1-7 start. Oregon coach Mark Wasikowski highlighted Arizona junior pitcher Owen Kramkowski, a top-100 MLB draft prospect, as a key threat.
“He’s a super-projectable right-handed guy — fastball, cutter who’s mid-, high-90s,” Wasikowski said. “Great arm.”
Oregon sophomore catcher Burke-Lee Mabeus, a Bishop Gorman High graduate, returns to his hometown but kept his focus on the competition.
“I love my family. Obviously I’m really excited to see them, but I’m a little bit more excited for the teams we’re about to play,” Mabeus said. “We’ve got a lot of ambition for this weekend. We’ve all got our own opinions on how good we are as a team and the rankings and all that.”
Saturday’s marquee matchup features Arizona vs. Vanderbilt at 4 p.m., a battle between programs with national titles. Two games are scheduled each day (Friday, Saturday, Sunday), with streaming available on D1Baseball.com and tickets at lasvegascbc.com.
Wasikowski praised the tournament field: “I think the teams that are in the tournament — (an Arizona) team that was in the College World Series, a Vanderbilt team that’s traditionally really good, a UC Irvine team that’s traditionally very good, very well-coached. There’s a reason why they put that one together, right? And it’s with a lot of good teams in it. It’s going to be exciting.”
The event precedes the Athletics’ two spring training games at Las Vegas Ballpark during Big League Weekend.
