The biggest night in college baseball is headed to Baton Rouge.
The College Baseball Foundation has selected Louisiana’s state caption as its host site for the 2019 College Baseball Night of Champions which is a weekend celebration highlighted by the induction of this year’s National College Baseball Hall of Fame class.
“Choosing Baton Rouge for our biggest night was an easy decision,” Mike Gustafson, president and CEO of the College Baseball Foundation, said in a statement. “We know it’s a large and passionate fan base for college baseball. They have convinced us that this year’s festivities will be memorable for all who love the sport.”
The 2019 College Baseball Night of Champions will take place on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Raising Cane’s River Center Ballroom in downtown Baton Rouge.
The annual event features the inductions of the class of 2019 into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame. This year’s inductees will join the 93 individuals who have been honored since the inaugural ceremony in 2006.
Voting is already underway and the honorees will be unveiled later this month.
The evening also salutes the national championship teams from all levels of collegiate baseball. In addition, the foundation presents its awards which included the National Collegiate Umpire Award, the Brooks Wallace Award, the National Pitcher of the Year Award, the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award, and the Skip Bertman National Coach of the Year Award which is named after LSU’s legendary skipper.
“We thank the College Baseball Foundation board for singling out our city for this premier event, which is expected to draw more than 500 baseball fans to our region,” CEO of SportsBR Patrick Coogan said in a a statement. “We showed the foundation that Baton Rouge is becoming a destination for sports of all types, and that college baseball and our city fit hand in glove.”
In addition to having the coach of the year honor named after Bertman, the state of Louisiana is well connected to the foundation.
Former LSU stars have both won major awards as Alex Bregman took home the 2013 Brooks Wallace Award while Aaron Nola won National Pitcher of the Year honors in 2014. Southern University’s Danny Goodwin and Lou Brock, LSU’s Todd Walker, Ben McDonald and Eddy Furniss are all National College Baseball Hall of Fame inductees.
For more information about the weekend please visit CBFNightofChampions.org.