The City of New Orleans will again host Major League Baseball’s MLB Urban Invitational for the fourth straight season highlighting Historically Black College and University (HBCU) baseball.
The University of New Orleans once again will serve as the hosts for this year’s tournament in Pontchartrain Park. Southern University returns for the tenth straight season, and rival Grambling State will be featured for the sixth time. The tourney will feature four HBCU baseball programs mainly from the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).
The tournament, which does not have any of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) members was created to promote and enrich baseball in urban and underserved areas, mainly appealing to a younger audience. The Urban Invitational will host a private youth clinic and a MLB Pitch and Run competition.
Fellow HBCUs Southern University, Grambling State, Alcorn State University and Prairie View A&M will compete in the six-team field that also includes the University of New Orleans and Illinois-Chicago. The six teams will play a round-robin set of nine games, split over the three days of February 17-19.,
You can watch the 2017 Urban Invitational simulcast live on the MLB Network here.
MLB Urban Youth Invitational:
Friday February 17, 2017
Prairie View at Illinois-Chicago New Orleans, La 11:00 a.m. Live Stats Audio
Prairie View at Illinois-Chicago New Orleans, La. 2:00 p.m.
Alcorn State at Grambling State New Orleans, La. 5:00 p.m.
Southern at New Orleans New Orleans, La 6:00 p.m. Live Audio
Saturday February 18, 2017
Alcorn State at Prairie View New Orleans, La. 2:00 p.m. Watch Live Stats
Sunday February 19, 2017
Grambling State at Illinois-Chicago 12:00 p.m.
Prairie View at New Orleans New Orleans, La. 1:00 p.m. Live Audio
Alcorn State at Southern New Orleans, La. 3:00 p.m.