National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I
Saturday 12th March 2016
1st pitch 14.00
Dallas Baptist University Patriots 9 Valparaiso University Crusaders 2, attendance 606
@ Joan & Andy Horner Ballpark
3000, Mountain Creek Parkway
Dallas, TX 75211
$7 admission
Programme free, 4 pages.
Prior to this, I had only been to two baseball games before, both during holidays in the States. Firstly, to see the Florida Marlins when they played at the Sun Life Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins, then to an Arizona Fall League game at Scottsdale Stadium, near Phoenix AZ. It is a much better game to watch when you understand a bit more of what is going on, which I certainly didn’t before.
The Patriots baseball team are the only ones from DBU that play in NCAA I, the others being in NCAA II. Home games are played at Horner Ballpark which opened on 15th February 2013. There are 2,000 seats and since this season they will play on a full artificial pitch, as the outfield natural grass has been replaced to match the infield. The record crowd was set on 31st May 2015 when the visit of University Texas Longhorns drew 3,242 spectators.
