SURPRISE, Ariz. — The UC Santa Barbara Baseball team officially joined the 2027 Surprise College Baseball Series field, as announced by organizers REV Entertainment on Wednesday, setting the Gauchos up for three opening-weekend contests against top-level opposition. Santa Barbara will play the Beavers, Commodores and Cornhuskers across three days, Feb. 19-21 2027, at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona, the Spring Training home of the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals. Scheduling of the matchups, game times and broadcast information for the tournament will be announced at a later date.
 
"We are excited to be participating in this event," UC Santa Barbara Head Coach Andrew Checketts said. "We want to be competing with teams at the top level of our sport, and that's two regional teams and a program that is traditionally very good in Vanderbilt that we will be playing. We are looking forward to a weekend of great baseball and showing what Santa Barbara Baseball is about."
 
Next year will be the Gauchos' first time participating in the Surprise College Baseball Series but not their first visit to Surprise Stadium. Santa Barbara opened its 2023 campaign at the ballpark, notching a pair of wins over Minnesota during the Sanderson Ford College Baseball Classic. Current pros Ivan Brethowr and Jared Sundstrom both homered during that weekend, and 2025 second overall Major League Baseball Draft pick Tyler Bremner made his collegiate debut against Oregon State.
 
The Beavers are fixtures in Arizona, with next year's event set to be their 14^th consecutive visit to Surprise. Oregon State is coming off its ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance in 2026 — the fourth-longest active streak in Division I baseball — after going 45-14 to secure a fifth consecutive 40-win season. They are set to be led by rising junior Dax Whitney, who pitched to a 2.00 ERA across 11 starts before an injury ended his season early.
 
And speaking of fixtures, Vanderbilt only missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 20 years in 2026, having reached the College World Series Final four times and won it twice during that stretch of 19 consecutive postseasons. The Commodores finished 2026 with a 33-25 record and remain one of the single biggest names in college baseball. Vanderbilt Head Coach Tim Corbin ranks sixth among all active Division I head coaches with 1103 career wins over his 30-year career and has coached 157 MLB Draft picks during his time in Nashville. Despite Santa Barbara's route to the 2016 College World Series running through Vanderbilt's Charles Hawkins Field, the Gauchos and Commodores will be meeting for the first time in February.
 
As for Nebraska, they captured the attention of the college baseball world in 2026, going 43-17, reaching the semifinal of the Big Ten Baseball Tournament and hosting an NCAA Regional in Lincoln for the first time since 2008. The Cornhuskers have also been to Surprise in years past, suffering a four-game sweep at the hands of the Beavers back in 2019. They have also never faced the Gauchos, setting up another first-time meeting for Santa Barbara come February of 2027.
 
The College Baseball Series is a premier collection of early-season Division I college baseball tournaments owned and operated by REV Entertainment, the official sports and entertainment company of the Texas Rangers. Since 2021, the series has hosted more than 140 games and welcomed over 430,000 fans. In 2027, the College Baseball Series will feature seven tournaments across five locations. For more information, visit CollegeBaseballSeries.com.
 
Home Plate Reserved tickets go on sale Friday, June 26 at 9 a.m. MST at CollegeBaseballSeries.com. This premium three-day pass includes reserved seating behind home plate, reserved parking, a commemorative souvenir hat, express entry into the stadium, and more. Home Plate Reserved tickets are $126 for adults and $75 for youth (13 and under), before taxes and fees. Group tickets (10 or more) and suites are available by contacting the Surprise Stadium box office (623-222-2222). General admission tickets will go on sale at a later date following the release of the schedule.