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Rangers get look at elite college prospects with Big 12 vs. SEC baseball tournament at Globe Life Field

The tournament will feature six of the top 10 teams in the country.

In a year where the draft will be a primary focus for the Rangers, they will get an early and close-up look at more than 10 percent of the best 100 college prospects in the country next month.

The club’s events division announced Thursday a Big 12 vs. SEC college baseball tournament for Feb. 19-21 at Globe Life Field that will feature six of the top 10 programs in the country: Texas Tech (No. 3, in D1 Baseball’s preseason poll), Mississippi (No. 6), Mississippi State (No. 7), Arkansas (No. 8), Texas (No. 9) and TCU (No. 10). The programs combine to have 14 of the top 100 college prospects for this year’s draft, according to Baseball America’s rankings.

“You are talking about six teams that are not just top 10 teams this year, but every year,” TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “I talked with a scouting director the other day and he said there were 60, what he called ‘high-end follows’ who will play in this. I’m excited for baseball in the area because of it. People are going to see a lot of guys who are going to be playing in the majors in the next 18 to 24 months.”

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The prospect group is headed by Mississippi right-hander Gunner Hoglund (No. 14) and Texas right-hander Ty Madden (No. 16). Those teams, however, don’t face one another until the final day of the tournament, so it’s unlikely a pitching showdown will take place.

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The Rangers also announced plans to allow between 14,000-15,000 fans in per session, which is similar to the occupancy during the National Finals Rodeo in December. It may also serve as a precursor to the Rangers’ plans for allowing fans into home games during the regular season, though nothing official has been announced. Tickets for the tournament are $25 per day or $50 for the full three-day tournament.

It will give Rangers officials a chance to see players playing on the unique surface at Globe Life Field and in the actual dimensions they would eventually call home. The Rangers top draft picks in each of the last two drafts – Josh Jung of Texas Tech and Justin Foscue of Mississippi State – came from programs that will participate in the tournament.

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