Kansas City Bound

Vanderbilt, Oklahoma State square off in fall exhibition

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Vanderbilt and Oklahoma State will play an exhibition contest Oct. 26 at noon from the Kansas City Urban Youth Academy, the Kansas City Royals announced in conjunction with the two programs Friday. Ticket information will be available at a later date.

Both teams are scheduled to hold workouts at the Urban Youth Academy facility Oct. 25, which will be open to the public. Members of both squads will also tour the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum during their trip to Kansas City.

Vanderbilt is coming off a 2019 College World Series championship, while storming to an SEC-record 59 wins including the SEC Tournament and regular season titles. The Commodores are led by head coach Tim Corbin, who will begin his 18th season at Vandy in 2020.

Oklahoma State won the Big 12 Conference Tournament championship in 2019. The Cowboys were one win away from advancing to the College World Series last season, falling to conference-rival Texas Tech in the Super Regional. Oklahoma State head coach Josh Holliday served as an assistant at Vandy under Corbin from 2010-12. He helped the Commodores reach the College World Series in 2011, before returning to his alma mater to take over the Oklahoma State program.

The Kansas City Urban Youth Academy officially opened in 2018 to serve its mission of empowering Kansas City’s underserved youth through baseball and softball, as well as academic and social opportunities, to be the leaders of tomorrow.

Vanderbilt opens fall training Oct. 8. Full-squad training sessions open to the public will take place Oct. 8-11. The squad will host its annual Black and Gold Series from Nov. 12-16.