US Bank to Host Cambria College Classic This Weekend

[Jeremy Nygaard]

While Target Field sits idly by without baseball, US Bank Stadium will host the Cambria College Classic beginning Friday, March 4 through Sunday, March 6. The Gophers will host five other teams, including two Big Ten teams and the #11 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

The inaugural event was hosted in 2020 and the 2022 version (following a one-year hiatus) will follow a similar schedule. The three Big Ten teams will rotate playing the non-Big Ten teams over the weekend.

Friday, March 4
11:05 am               Michigan State vs. Kansas
3:05 pm                 Illinois vs. Notre Dame
7:00 pm                 West Virginia vs. Minnesota
 
Saturday, March 5
11:05 am               Notre Dame vs. Michigan State
3:05 pm                 West Virginia vs. Illinois
7:05 pm                 Kansas vs. Minnesota
 
Sunday, March 6
10:05 am               West Virginia vs. Michigan State
2:05 pm                 Kansas vs. Illinois
6:05 pm                 Notre Dame vs. Minnesota

From the view of prospect-watchers, the field doesn't offer too much (right now) in terms of high-end 2022 draftable talent. In fact, only Notre Dame 3B/RHP Jack Brannigan (Baseball America's #85 prospect) shows up in any of the most popular Top 100 lists.

But that doesn't mean that there won't be talent in Minneapolis this weekend.

The Gophers, whose roster boasts 16 players from Minnesota and 6 from Wisconsin, are 3-6 on the season and host South Dakota State on Wednesday night. Senior catcher Chase Stanke has five home runs in ten games. Sam Ireland, a junior pitcher, has been the Gophers best starter, but the rest of their pitching staff has been somewhat of a mess.

Notre Dame, who is 5-1 this season, boasts a lineup that is batting a collective .348 and has an OPS just shy of 1.000 (.959). The offense is currently being led by sophomore CF TJ Williams and senior 1B Carter Putz.  Notre Dame's rotation is a combined 5-0 (in 5 starts), striking out 44 in 34 innings. Notre Dame will play Minnesota in the tournament's finale. Nick Juaire, from Farmington, is a catcher on the team. Also of note, Casey Kmet, brother of Cole, who currently plays for the Chicago Bears, is also on the team. 

West Virginia is 6-2 and has two wins over Central Michigan, who was ranked #16. They've also been very good offensively so far, batting over .300 as a team.

Michigan State is 3-4 on the season. Illinois (2-4) and Kansas (3-3) just played three games against each other a couple of weeks ago.

At any rate, if you're a fan of baseball who needs a fix, nine games in a controlled climate might be what you need.

Tickets for this weekend's event are available here. 

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[Seth Stohs]

5 hours ago, MMMordabito said:

Maybe Twins Daily to should rebrand to Minnesota Baseball Daily and shift more coverage to this part of the sport.

$30 for nine games (now I'm guessing beers will still be $10, thanks to the host venue), but that's a steal.  It will only take one game to get used to the "tinks" again.

Well, if we have readers from any of the Minnesota colleges and who want to blog about that team, that would be fantastic. 

As for this tournament... a guy I played ball with in high school played for the Gophers from like 91-94, played for Team USA and spent a few years in minor league ball. Anyway, my family went down to the Dome to watch a day (at the time, I think it was the Dairy Queen Classic) to watch him play. I remember watching Georgia Tech, and they had Jason Varitek and Nomar Garciaparra... and I think Jay Payton. I think maybe Arkansas was another team and they had some players too. It's a ton of fun.