The State Farm College Baseball Showdown scheduled to start Friday at Globe Life Field in Arlington has been delayed by a day.

TCU baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle confirmed on a conference call Tuesday that the showcase event will now start on Saturday instead of Friday because of inclement weather throughout the region. A formal announcement by the Texas Rangers came later in the day.

The event features six of the top-10 teams in the country from the Big 12 (TCU, Texas, Texas Tech) and SEC (Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Arkansas) playing a round-robin format over three days with a triple-header each day.

“The decision to move the start of the State Farm College Baseball Showdown to Saturday was made in the interest of safety for the fans and the teams,” said Sean Decker, the Rangers’ executive vice president of sports and entertainment. “Our thoughts are with all of those who are being affected by the current dangerous weather conditions. We are looking forward to safely hosting this premiere college baseball tournament this weekend.”

The coaches agreed this was the right decision given the circumstances.

“It’s the best decision for everyone’s travel,” Texas coach David Pierce said. “It’ll be a great environment, so we’re excited to play.”

Game times are scheduled for 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and 11 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Monday. Tickets purchased for Friday’s sessions will now be valid for Monday’s games. Saturday and Sunday sessions remain the same for ticket holders.

Saturday’s session has been sold out but tickets remain for Sunday and Monday. Tickets are priced at $25 for adults and $15 for youth 13 and under. One ticket is valid for all three games that day. There is a limited capacity due to COVID-19 protocols.

TCU is scheduled to open its season against Ole Miss at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Frogs then face Mississippi State at 11 a.m. Sunday, and close the tournament against Arkansas at 6 p.m. Monday.

Schlossnagle said the team has done its best to prepare the last few days amid the unfavorable conditions. TCU has a couple indoor facilities at its disposal with the indoor football practice field as well as an indoor facility next to the baseball stadium.

“We’re about the same as everybody,” Schlossnagle said. “We got a lot of good work in leading up to this weather coming in town and I think we’ll be in the same situation as everybody else in leading up to the season. The toughest part, the hardest part, the most important part is making sure the pitchers stay in routine and get the pitches thrown they need to.

“We’ve made the best to this point with what we can do.”

TCU is expected to give right-hander Johnny Ray the opening day nod with left-handers Russell Smith and Austin Krob also in the weekend rotation.

Here’s the full schedule of games for the State Farm College Baseball Showdown:

Saturday

11 a.m.: Mississippi State vs. Texas

3 p.m.: Mississippi vs. TCU

7 p.m.: Arkansas vs. Texas Tech

Sunday

11 a.m.: TCU vs. Mississippi State

3 p.m.: Texas Tech vs. Mississippi

7 p.m.: Texas vs. Arkansas

Monday

11 a.m.: Mississippi State vs. Texas Tech

2:30 p.m.: Mississippi vs. Texas

6 p.m.: Arkansas vs. TCU

* Games will be streamed live by FloSports, the tournament’s broadcast partner.

This story was originally published February 16, 2021 at 12:30 PM.

Drew Davison

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Drew Davison was a TCU and Big 12 sports writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram until 2022. He covered everything in DFW from Rangers to Cowboys to motor sports.