CWU students and alumni took over Safeco Field on Friday, May 18 for the annual CWU Mariners Night. There were many things that CWU students could do at the game, including joining in on the CWU pre-game festival, getting a beer at “The Pen,” or scoring a new Mariners and Wildcat mashup baseball cap.

CWU junior Janice Roman said that she went for the CWU themed Mariners cap, and as the Safeco Field garlic fries.

A big draw for CWU Mariners Night was the customized CWU Mariners cap. The cap turned into a debate as to whether or not it was worth the price of admission. Tickets were $30 for view level, and $48 for main level.

The CWU pre-game festival took place on the concourse behind section 330. It started at 5:10 p.m. and ran up until first pitch at 7:10 p.m.

There were views of downtown Seattle, as well as the Puget Sound. The concourse was located at the highest level of the stadium, maximizing the viewpoints that Safeco Field has to offer.

It was at this location that the CWU hats were being distributed, but only to students that had bought their ticket through the CWU Mariners offer. Any CWU student that had their Connection Card could gain access to the CWU pre-game festival however.

When they walk in, the first thing students saw was a “bottomless” popcorn and peanut stand. Hundreds of students, alumni, and family could be seen munching on the snack items.

Scattered across the concourse were several CWU themed stands.

One of the featured attractions was CWU’s radio station, 88.1 The ‘Burg, streaming live to all the Ellensburg area listeners. Sports talk hosts Payton Berens, Austin Lane, and Will Ortner were on the call.

“It’s just a special sports show that we’ve been doing for the last couple years at CWU Mariners night,” 88.1 The ‘Burg’s Wyatt Simmons said. “We got everything from sports topics to eventually talking about the Mariners.”

The biggest stand on the concourse was the alumni tent set up right in the center, complete with a raffle in hopes of enticing new alumni donors.

“You get two entries if you sign up for the alumni association,” alumni employee Katrina Wright said. “There’s a student membership, which has a really great mentor program for current students. And alumni is an annual membership, and there’s lots of different events and things like that.”

Another event taking place during the pre-game festival was a photo area, where you could get your picture taken on a giant throne. This was a tribute to Felix Hernandez.

There were many picnic tables that many parents, students and alumni were sitting at. You could also pick up a beer at the alcohol stand.

CWU received a high-profile spotlight when the CWU choir performed the national anthem for the near 35,000 in attendance.

“It’s just a bunch of practice,” CWU Choir member Abdul Makinde said. “We’re really proud.”

Despite CWU Mariners Night tickets being sold in two specific sections, you could still find CWU students all over the ballpark. Some students were sitting in bars scattered around the stadium, some were sitting in the outfield bleachers and others were just walking around the stadium.

CWU junior Miles Shimchick said he didn’t really care for all the pre-game festivities. The main reason why he was there was because he  wanted to see his favorite team with his CWU friends.

“I think everyone rallied around one cause that was our home team winning,” Shimchick said. “It was fun seeing 35,000 fans there, and people hyped for the Mariners.”

As far as the game itself, the Mariners walked away with a 5-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers. As the game came to a close, several Mariners’ fans in CWU hats were spotted exiting from many parts of the ballpark.