Baseball Welcomes Team USA for Fall Exhibition

PHOENIX – Sun Devil Baseball continues its Fall Exhibition campaign this weekend as the squad welcomes the U.S. National Premier12 Team to Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Friday, Nov. 1 before heading across town for a scrimmage at Grand Canyon on Saturday.
 
Friday's tilt against Team USA is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. AZT first pitch and will feature several top professional prospects in the nation alongside a slew of seasoned veterans.
 
The Sun Devils will rock the wood bats for the contest and the event will be free and open to the public (in addition to free parking). Limited concessions will be available. Additionally, members of the Sun Devil Ticketing office will be on hand to discuss season ticket purchases and answer any questions fans may have for the coming season.
 
Junior southpaw Ben Jacobs will get the start for the Sun Devils. Jacobs competed for the U.S. Collegiate National Team this past summer where he recorded action on the mound in the International Friendship Series. He completed the series with a 2.08 ERA and seven strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work. Jacobs was recently tabbed as the No. 55 collegiate prospect for the 2025 MLB Draft by Baseball America and the No. 2 left handed pitching prospect in the draft by Prospects Live.
 
The 28-player U.S. roster comprises 15 pitchers and 13 position players who are not currently on Major League Baseball 40-man rosters, and features four USA Baseball alumni as well as four MLB Pipeline Top 100 prospects.
 
Team USA–one of six teams in Group A–will compete in the group stage of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12™ presented by RAXUS from November 9-14 in Guadalajara and Tepic, Mexico. The top two nations from the six-team group will then advance to the Super Round in Tokyo, Japan, from November 21-24.
 
Major League Baseball's No. 75-ranked prospect Termarr Johnson (Pittsburgh Pirates)  - a former Sun Devil comit out of high school - highlights a group of four alumni returning to the stars and stripes. Johnson, a two-time alum, is joined by Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic silver medalist Anthony Gose, five-time alum Chris Okey (Los Angeles Dodgers), and former 16U National Team player Touki Toussaint.
 
Johnson is also one of four MLB Pipeline Top 100 prospects on the U.S. roster. Leading the quartet is Carson Williams (Tampa Bay Rays), who is the fourth-best prospect in baseball, as well as No. 22 overall prospect Matt Shaw (Chicago Cubs). Justin Crawford (No. 53, Philadelphia Phillies) and Johnson round out the Top 100 prospects on the roster, reuniting after both participating in USA Baseball's 14U National Team Development Program (NTDP) in 2018.
 
In addition to the prospects on Team USA's roster, the squad also includes nine players with major league playing experience, combining for 61 big-league seasons. Rich Hill leads the way with 20 MLB seasons under his belt, while Dan Altavilla, Dylan Covey (Philadelphia Phillies), Gose, Spencer Patton, and Toussaint bring at least five seasons of big-league time to the roster. Zac Grotz, Casey Lawrence (Seattle Mariners), and Okey have also had stints in the major leagues.
 
Team USA will be led by 19-year MLB managing veteran and Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics Manager Mike Scioscia in 2024. Scioscia is joined by an experienced staff, including Bench Coach Ron Roenicke, Pitching Coach Dave Wallace, and Hitting Coach Rick Eckstein. Dino Ebel (Third Base Coach), Jemile Weeks (First Base Coach), LaTroy Hawkins (Bullpen Coach), and Carlos Muñoz (Bullpen Catcher) complete the staff, which combines 84 seasons of big-league coaching experience.
 
The 2024 Premier12 will feature the world's 12 top-ranked teams (as of December 31, 2023) in an international competition in Japan, Mexico, and Taiwan. After placing second in the first rendition of the competition in 2015 and fourth in the 2019 tournament, Team USA looks for its first gold medal in Premier12 history. The team will begin its 2024 Premier12 campaign in Guadalajara and Tepic, Mexico, from November 9-14 and will look to advance to Tokyo, Japan, for the final round of the competition.
 
The Sun Devils will get right back into action on Saturday, heading up the I-17 to square off with Grand Canyon at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark at 2 p.m. AZT. Admission to that event is free as well.
 
ASU will round out its Fall Ball campaign with the annual Maroon and Gold World Series, taking place Nov. 19-20 and Nov. 22-24 at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. Game times will be announced closer to that event.