This past Saturday I was fortunate enough to go to Day 2 of the 2022 Shriners Hospital For Children College Classic at Minute Maid Park. Where 6 teams compete in a round-robin-style tournament. The six teams competing were UCLA, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas, Baylor, and Tennesse. This tournament was the peak of college fandom as all 6 fanbases came to Minute Maid Park to watch their schools compete against one another.

The focus outside of the teams competing was something quite amazing as the whole point of the tournament is to raise money for the Shriners Hospital For Children. Each team competing had an honorary team captain that was a child who had been treated at the Shriners Hospital for Children. When they announced each honorary team captain they would have their story played on the jumbotron at Minute Maid Park.

Game 1 of the triple-header was an unranked matchup between Oklahoma Sooners and the UCLA Bruins. You could feel the electricity at the 11 am first pitch by the Bruins fans as most of them were supportive parents who flew out to come to see their sons play in the game. This game was over before the 1st inning had even ended as the Bruins scored 6 runs in the bottom of the first. With 4 of those 6 runs coming from Carson Yates as he hit a Grand Slam to left field off of Braden Carmichael who replaced the starting pitcher, David Sandlin in the 1st. Oklahoma had no answer offensively as they only scored 3 runs the whole game. The Sooners ended up going through 7 pitchers that allowed 11 hits in total. After 6.5 innings the NCAA umpires ended the game as the mercy rule came to affect the final score being UCLA 15, Oklahoma 3.

The second game of the triple-header was more exciting as more people started to trickle into the ballpark for N0.17 Tennesse Volunteers Vs. Baylor Bears. The Vols and Bears each scored 4 runs in the first inning.  After the 1st the Volunteers outscored the bears 6 to 1 in the last 7.5 innings. The Volunteers finished with a win 10-5.

The final game of the triple-header was something I had never experienced in my life as over 20,000 fans came together to watch a top 10 matchup between No. 7 LSU Tigers versus No. 1 Texas Longhorns. The Tiger fanbase was absolutely roaring before the game as they were singing and clapping to “Callin’ Baton Rouge” by Garth Brooks as it was playing over speakers at Minute Maid. The Longhorns fans as well had the Hook Em’ hand signs up as they were singing along to “Eyes Of Texas.” The Longhorns though were dominant in this game solidifying themselves as the true Number 1 team in all of D1 college baseball. LSU had too many fielding errors, left runners stranded, and struck out in key situations. The final score ended up being No. 1 Texas Longhorns 6, No. 7 LSU Tigers 1.

If you’re a fan of baseball I would definitely recommend going to next year’s Shriner College Classic or any college baseball game this season. Especially now with the MLB lockout that’s going on getting to witness any baseball is a miracle, but college baseball is making sure to keep the sport alive and well.