City Of Tulsa Ready To Host Big 12 Baseball

Tuesday was a bit of a warm up day for the Big 12 baseball tournament - a chance for teams to come in, look around, and get used to ONEOK Field.

According to Ray Hoyt, president of Visit Tulsa and the Tulsa Sports Commission, Tulsa's been getting warmed up for a couple of years.

"Because of all the development in downtown you can walk in any direction out of here and restaurants and things to do," he said.

He's excited about the Big 12 Baseball Tournament, which starts Wednesday, but said getting the tournament was not easy.

A couple of years ago they were pitching the Big 12 for women's basketball at the BOK center.

"We happened to highlight downtown and our venues, and this was one of the ones we showed them, because the city's going through this amazing renaissance. They said ‘Wait, have you ever thought about baseball,'" Hoyt said.

So they pitched baseball later and got it.

Hoyt said, among other things, they'd spent $140,000 on some add-ons.

Normally ONEOK hosts two teams, but starting Wednesday there'll be eight, so they're using mobile trailers as temporary locker rooms.

There are two of them and in between are a couple of temporary batting cages so players can warm up a bit.

For fans, a short walk out the gate there are restaurants, and another block and there's Fanfest every day at Guthrie Green, with local bands, food trucks and a movie night.

"Come downtown Wednesday through Sunday. You're gonna find something to do, that's there for everybody," Hoyt said.

You can keep up with all the activities related to the Big 12 tournament, both baseball and otherwise on line.