TEMPE, Ariz. -- The 16th-ranked Arizona State baseball team will host No. 1 Arkansas twice at the 2013 Coca-Cola Classic in Surprise, Ariz., and also will play Gonzaga and Pacific in the tournament that runs from Feb. 28 through March 3 at the Surprise Recreation Complex.
All four games for the Sun Devils will follow major league spring training games and will be played at Surprise Stadium, the spring home of the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers. First pitch for each is set for 4 p.m. or 50 minutes after the conclusion of the preceding spring training game.
The Sun Devils will take on the Razorbacks on March 1 after the Royals host the World Series champion San Francisco Giants at 1:05 p.m. ASU and Arkansas also will play on Feb. 28 prior to the Rangers' game against the Seattle Mariners game at 1:05 p.m.
Arkansas, which went 46-22 and advanced to the College World Series last season, has been tabbed as the No. 1 team in the nation by a Collegiate Baseball preseason poll. ASU has won six of the teams' previous nine meetings, including once in the 2011 Regional in Tempe and twice at the 2010 Super Regional in Tempe.
ASU is 14-2 all-time against Gonzaga after completing a three-game sweep last season in Spokane. The Bulldogs feature a number of top players, including Marco Gonzales, a preseason first team All-American and reigning West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year.
The Sun Devils have never faced Pacific.
