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KISSIMMEE, Fla. \u2013 Three teams that advanced to an NCAA baseball regional last season, including College World Series’ participant West Virginia, highlight the six-team field set to play in the inaugural 2027 Orlando Baseball Classic, Feb. 26-28, at ESPN Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World Resort. Veteran event-promoter bdG Sports made the announcement Wednesday.
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\nAlong with West Virginia, the new event will feature 2026 NCAA super regional participant St. John’s and NCAA regional selection UCF, along with Pitt, Michigan and Indiana State.
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\n“As NCAA baseball continues its impressive growth pattern, interest in early season, destination-location events have become highly sought after, and what better destination than Central Florida and the immaculate Stadium at ESPN Wide World of Sports,” said Brooks Downing, founder and president of bdG Sports. “Fans and participants alike can enjoy premium collegiate baseball, the Florida sunshine, and of course, the largest and most visited theme park destination on earth, Walt Disney World.”
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\nThe Stadium at ESPN Wide World of Sports will play host to the round-robin event, which will be played in Week 2 of the new season. The Stadium, with a capacity of 9,500 seats and another 2,000 on grass, opened in 1997 and was designed with Major League Baseball dimensions. For two decades, the immaculate ballpark served as the home to spring training for the Atlanta Braves, and has played host to minor league teams, MLB regular-season games for the Tampa Bay Rays, the 2006 World Baseball Classic and the 2001 Atlantic 10 Conference baseball tournament.
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\nThe Orlando Baseball Classic will check two boxes for NCAA teams: it creates a much-needed national event to start the season, an opportunity to showcase great competition as the new baseball season gets underway; and, it provides a warm-weather destination for a number of teams that typically have to begin the first three weeks of the season away from home while winter hangs on across the northern half of the country.
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\n“We’re extremely grateful to BD Global for inviting Indiana State Baseball to be part of this outstanding tournament at Disney,” Indiana State head baseball coach Tracy Archuleta<\/a> said. “Opportunities like this are special for our players, and it gives our team a chance to compete against great programs in an incredible setting. This is also a great opportunity for our fans, boosters and alumni to support Indiana State Baseball and the get the full Disney experience with their families. We’re honored to be invited and look forward to representing Indiana State and making this a memorable experience for our players, coaches, alumni, and fans.”
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\nMatchups are as follows. (All times are eastern and subject to change.)
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\nFriday, Feb. 26
\nSt. John’s vs. Michigan \u2013 11 am. ET
\nIndiana State vs. West Virginia \u2013 3 p.m.
\nUCF vs. Pitt \u2013 7 p.m.
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\nSaturday, Feb. 27
\nWest Virginia vs. St. John’s \u2013 11 a.m.
\nPitt vs. Indiana State \u2013 3 p.m.
\nMichigan vs. UCF \u2013 7 p.m.
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\nSunday, Feb. 28
\nSt. John’s vs. Pitt \u2013 11 a.m.
\nWest Virginia vs. Michigan \u2013 3 p.m.
\nUCF vs. Indiana State \u2013 7 p.m.
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\nBroadcast details will be announced later.
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\nA CLOSER LOOK AT INDIANA STATE
\nIndiana State completed the 2026 season, 30-27 overall, finishing second in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 15-9 league mark. Head coach Tracy Archuleta<\/a> boasts a 25-year career as a head coach at both the NCAA Division I and Division II levels. He guided Southern Indiana to two NCAA Division II national championships and its transition to Division I before taking over the Indiana State program prior to the 2025 season. In 2023, ISU advance to the NCAA Super Regional before dropping the series to TCU.
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\nA CLOSER LOOK AT MICHIGAN
\nMichigan registered a 34-24 record last season, including a 17-13 mark in Big Ten. Head Coach Tracy Smith enters his fifth season leading the Wolverines. He guided Michigan to a pair of top-4 finishes in the league during his first two campaigns in Ann Arbor. Entering his 30th season as a Division I baseball head coach, Smith owns eight NCAA regional appearances and a trip to the College World Series (Indiana, 2013). Michigan has eight College World Series appearances, two NCAA championships (1953, 1962) and was runner up in 2019.
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\nA CLOSER LOOK AT PITT
\nPitt claimed a 33-24 overall mark during the 2026 season, advancing to the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships before falling to eventual CWS runner-up North Carolina. Ninth-year head coach Mike Bell has amassed nearly 200 career wins, guided the Panthers to six postseason appearances and helped the program achieve its highest national ranking (No. 14 in 2021).
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\nA CLOSER LOOK AT ST. JOHN’S
\nSt. John’s (36-26 overall, 15-6 Big East) is coming off a standout 2026 campaign that saw the Johnnies finish as a consensus Top-25 team, advancing to the NCAA super regionals and just missing out on a trip to the CWS after winning the Big East regular-season crown and league tournament title. Sixth-year head coach Mike Hampton was named the 2026 ABCA\/ATEC Northeast Region Coach of the Year. He has directed St. John’s to a 74-44-1 mark during the past two seasons.
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\nA CLOSER LOOK AT UCF
\nUCF advanced to the Auburn NCAA Regional a year ago, capping off a 32-23 campaign and tying for a third-place finish in the Big 12 at 19-11. Head coach Rich Wallace has guided the Knights to an NCAA regional twice in three seasons leading the program while earning a 98-70 overall record. UCF’s pitching staff ERA has ranked first or second in the Big 12 each season under Wallace.
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\nA CLOSER LOOK AT WEST VIRGINIA
\nAfter back-to-back NCAA Super Regional appearance in 2024 and 2025, West Virginia broke through and made the program’s College World Series debut in 2026. Second-year head coach Steve Sabins saw his Mountaineers post a school-record with 47 victories, finish second in both the Big 12 regular-season standings and league tournament championship and claim a No. 4 national ranking at year’s end.
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\nFAN PACKAGES AVAILABLE
\nFan packages and tickets go on sale to the public beginning Aug. 27 at 11 a.m. ET. Fan packages include: a three-night stay at one of the partner hotels (Disney’s Pop Century Resort, Drury Plaza Hotel Orlando or Hyatt Grand Cypress) with additional nights available if necessary; premium tickets (behind home plate) to all games; tickets (number dependent on room occupancy level purchased) to a fan welcome reception (Feb. 25) at Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort that includes food and non-alcoholic beverages and evening fireworks at the park; a two-day park-hopper pass for Walt Disney World Parks; and a welcome swag bag with event apparel. General admission tickets and hotel rooms at preferred rates can be purchased separately from fan packages at www.OrlandoBaseballClassic.com. (Airfare is not included in the fan package.)
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\nABOUT ESPN WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS COMPLEX
\nESPN Wide World of Sports Complex is where sports dreams come true for athletes and fans of all ages. Located at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, the complex is the home of a variety of events including Disney Soccer and Disney Spring Training and has accommodated 70 different sports featuring athletes from 70 different countries since opening in 1997. Designed to provide professional, amateur and youth athletes with experiences synonymous with the names Disney and ESPN, the 260+-acre facility features multiple competition venues, including 16 baseball\/softball fields; a 9,500-seat stadium; a state-of-the-art indoor arena and two versatile field houses for basketball, volleyball, and other indoor sports; and 17 multi-purpose fields for outdoor sports including soccer, football and field hockey. The complex includes a professional production center that produces content for global distribution on the Disney family of networks. For more information, visit www.disneysportsnews.com for news releases, photos and videos.
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\nORLANDO BASEBALL CLASSIC SOCIAL TAGS
\nKeep up to date with the latest information regarding the Orlando Baseball Classic via social media at @ORLBaseClassic on X, Instagram, and Facebook.
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\nABOUT BDG SPORTS
\nbdG Sports is a sports and entertainment leader with a dynamic and ever-growing event management portfolio with a cornerstone in basketball and professional golf and an expansive focus toward baseball. The firm boasts an event schedule that has\u00a0delivered significant economic\u00a0impact\u00a0to\u00a0multiple communities throughout North America and the Caribbean while featuring broadcasts to viewers across the globe.
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\nIn basketball, bdG has a lengthy history of producing\u00a0premium\u00a0college basketball content. From summer exhibition tours to multiple high-profile in-season tournaments\u00a0and neutral-site events,\u00a0bdG will contract more than 100 regular-season men’s and women’s Division I basketball games annually.\u00a0It boasts the record for the largest hoops crowd in Nevada state history (Duke-Gonzaga 2021 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas),\u00a0the second-most watched game since 2008 (Arkansas-Illinois on Thanksgiving Day 2024 with 5.1 million viewers)\u00a0and one of the largest events in the sport, 20 men’s and women’s teams competing annually at Baha Mar Hoops.\u00a0bdG is the only third-party operator which manages a conference tournament, assisting The Big West Men’s & Women’s Championships each March in Henderson, Nevada.\u00a0
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\nIn professional golf, bdG owns and operates two season-opening Korn Ferry Tour tournaments, The Bahamas Golf Classic at Atlantis Paradise Island and The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club, both televised by the Golf Channel and featuring $1 million purses.\u00a0For NCAA\u00a0baseball, bdG owns and operates the Atlantis Collegiate Baseball Series and the Orlando Baseball Classic.
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\nFollow the Sycamores
\nFor the latest information on the Sycamore Baseball team, make sure to check out\u00a0GoSycamores.com<\/a>. You can also find the team on social media including\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>. \u00a0Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from both the\u00a0App Store<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Google Play Store<\/a>.<\/p>\n