A Division I game between Georgia and Missouri drew a crowd of 33,025 on Saturday at SunTrust Park, the second-largest crowd for a baseball game in NCAA history.
The current record for the largest crowd at an NCAA baseball game is 40,106 for a 2004 matchup between Houston and San Diego State held at Petco Park.
Saturday's game, a 6-1 victory for the visiting Missouri Tigers, preceded Friday's home opener for the Braves at the brand-new ballpark. It was just the second baseball event held at the new facility in Cobb County, following the Braves' exhibition game against the Yankees on March 31. Junior Trey Harris led the Missouri offense with a three-run homer, only the fourth competitive homer hit at SunTrust following blasts by the Braves' Freddie Freeman and the Yankees' Greg Bird and Chris Carter in that March exhibition.
Braves officials said the college game Saturday served as a good test run for what should be a festive home opener this Friday.
"We've gotten good reports," Braves president of business Derek Schiller told the Atlanta Journal-Consitution on Saturday. "We've got good [lessons] as well. We're going to have more signage outside come Friday than there was today to make sure people understand how to get to whatever parking location they're going to."
Georgia coach Scott Stricklin said he and his team were impressed with how the ballpark blended some of the best parts of Major League ballparks across the country.
"It's high-tech, and it has got all the bells and whistles," Stricklin said, "and I think it's going to be a great place for the Braves to play."