We have attendance news to pass along from the State College Spikes (short season A; NY-Penn League), the Birmingham Barons (Class AA; Southern League) and the Trenton Thunder (Class AA; Eastern League).
Last night a Medlar Field at Lubrano Park crowd of 6,105 fans saw the Spikes come from behind to defeat the West Virginia Black Bears, 7-5. That surpassed the previous mark of 6,066, set less than a year ago when the Spikes finished their 2014 regular season home slate on August 30 of that year against Batavia.
“We would like to thank all of our great fans who helped us make history tonight,” said Spikes General Manager Scott Walker. “This special night adds to the collection of great moments that we’ve been able to share with our fans in 10 seasons of Spikes baseball at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.”
In Birmingham, a crowd of 8,577, the largest in Regions Field history, saw the Barons fall to the Montgomery Biscuits, 7-6 in 12 innings. The Saturday sellout was the 12th of the 2015 season and 27th in Regions Field history. The 8,577 fans that packed the stadium bested the previous highest crowd of 8,513, which was set on March 28, 2014, in an exhibition versus the White Sox.
At ARM & HAMMER Park, the Thunder have sold out five straight games, including Saturday night’s sellout crowd of 7,765 fans. Over the five-game streak 35,219 fans have passed the turnstiles.
On Saturday night, the Thunder hosted the 20th largest crowd in franchise history, surpassing the 7,742 mark on August 7, 2014, at ARM & HAMMER Park.
The sellout streak began on Tuesday August 4 when Phillies 2B Chase Utley joined the Reading Fightin Phils on a rehab for the first two games of their series with the Thunder.
The official seating capacity at ARM & HAMMER Park is 6,150 and the Thunder have sold out 12 games this season. During the streak, an average of 7,043 fans have entered the park.