Salt River Fields will host collegiate exhibition games between ASU and the Arizona Diamondbacks beginning in 2015. (Photo courtesy of Melanie Newman)In an adaptation of a Grapefruit League tradition, collegiate exhibition games have made their way back to the Cactus League, thanks to an agreement made between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the state's three DI collegiate baseball programs: UA, ASU and Grand Canyon University.
A tweet sent out by the official Dbacks account Monday afternoon afternoon announced the planned schedule for the three teams. All games will take place at Salt River Fields, Arizona's Spring Training home.
The Diamondbacks will host ASU in 2015 and then again in 2018, with UA up next in 2016 and 2019. GCU plays its exhibition games against the Dbacks in 2017 and 2020.
Starting next spring, the #Dbacks will host annual exhibition games vs. @ASU, @UofA and @gcu at @SaltRiverFields. pic.twitter.com/hw5vLGpvm8
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) November 24, 2014
It is common for big-league clubs, especially for those in large cities with multiple universities, to host games of this type. In the past, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have played against UCLA and USC in preseason exhibitions.
This spring, the Milwaukee Brewers will hold a scrimmage against University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the only other college program on the 2015 Cactus League schedule, though each team releases its Spring Training schedule individually.
In Florida's Grapefruit League, the New York Yankees hosted the Florida State Seminoles baseball team in Spring Training, where other prominent local baseball programs were invited to play major league teams, including Michigan, Boston College and Georgetown.
Reach the assistant sports editor at smodrich@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @StefanJModrich
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