What a way to spend a Saturday in San Diego.
The Padres started the third game of their season-opening home stand against the Colorado Rockies roughly two hours after San Diego State tipped off against Florida Atlantic in Houston in the Final Four. So pregame, the Padres made the only reasonable decision to make on sunny, 65 degree day in one of baseball's best parks.
They invited fans to show up early for the game and watch the Aztecs on the big board.
Petco Park opened early so fans can watch San Diego State. Lots of trash talking in the #Rockies clubhouse right now between Austin Gomber (Florida Atlantic) and Alan Trejo (San Diego State) pic.twitter.com/BJyUnfA8RM
— Danielle Allentuck (@d_allentuck) April 1, 2023
The decision paid off in dramatic fashion. By the time the Final Four game approached its thrilling conclusion, fans had largely filled the Petco Park stands. And as the public address announcer called the opening lineups, Lamont Butler hit the biggest shot in SDSU history.
SDSU rallied from a 14-point deficit to secure a 72-71 win in the national semifinal. Butler capped the win with a buzzer beater to send the Aztecs to their first-ever national championship game appearance.
LAMONT BUTLER WINS IT AT THE BUZZER 😱
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 2, 2023
THE AZTECS ARE #NATIONALCHAMPIONSHIP BOUND 🔥#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/2sqxu5g05j
Here's how it looked at Petco Park.
And they are going absolutely wild for the announcement of the Rockies starting lineup at Petco Park. pic.twitter.com/mkSoCvBmCN
— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) April 2, 2023
The Padres took the game off the big board in favor of starting lineups. But the game still played on the secondary board in right field. The stands erupted when Butler hit the shot.
Moments later, Xander Bogaerts hit a first-inning home run to give the Padres a 2-0 lead.
Not a bad day at all in Southern California.
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