Last Wednesday the only off-campus festivity for Hamline’s Homecoming and Alumni Week took place at Target Field for an action packed Minnesota’s Major League Baseball Team, the Twins, game.
The Hamline University Programming Board put on the ‘Homecoming and Homeruns’ event, offering students the chance to purchase ground-level tickets for just five dollars the week prior. At 5:30 p.m. a bus full of Piper’s ready to cheer on the Twin’s left campus at the Bishop Statue.
Around 40 students attended the game and as a group sat in section 105, which offers one of the best views of not only the ballpark but the skyline of Minneapolis.
The first pitch of the night was thrown at 6:41 p.m., kicking off the Twin’s 159th game of the season versus the Miami Marlins (58–100). The Twins sat two games back in a tightly contested wild card race to earn a playoff appearance. With just five games to go the Twins would need to play perfect to play on.
The starter on the mound was rookie Simeon Woods-Richardson, who gave up a pair of singles and then a three run home run from the designated hitter Jake Burger before recording his first out of the night. Woods-Richardson was able to regain his footing in the first inning but had to be shortly replaced by reliever Louie Varland following a pair of singles to open the second inning.
The crowd was taken out of the game early due to a lackluster start by Minnesota, leading to some of the Piper’s exploring the stadium and seeing some of the snacks the ballpark had to offer. Thankfully the Twin’s began to show signs of life in the bottom of the third when left fielder Willi Castro blasted a line drive to deep center field for a lead off double.
The fans began to roar once again and later in the inning right fielder Trevor Larnach knocked a line drive into shallow center to make it 3–2. A new energy began to arrive at the stadium, bringing life back into the fans who have dealt with a slumping Twins team.
Just a few weeks ago it looked like the team could potentially win the American League Central Division title in back to back seasons. However this was before a series of losing streaks and injuries plagued the team, ending their chances of the title and making playoff hopes grim.
In the bottom of the fourth inning the former first overall pick in Byron Buxton hit a mammoth solo home run, traveling 450 feet and landing in the upper deck. The Twins remained tied with the Marlins but never looked back thanks to a five run seventh inning highlighted by superstar shortstop Carlos Correa’s R.B.I. double to put the Twins up 5–3.
The final score of the night was 8–3 Twins, sending the crowd home with a win for the final time in the 2024 season as they lost the next four.
Despite the rocky finish for the team, the lucky Hamline students who got to attend had a great night out at the ballpark. HUPB is planning a similar event in February where students will be brought to a Minnesota Wild game for the second straight year.