Cardinals, Stephen F. Austin Club Baseball, and the Beauty of Baseball

Who saw the St. Louis Cardinals and the Stephen F. Austin club baseball team taking over Major League Baseball for the weekend?

No body, and that is the beauty of baseball.

We all know what the Cardinals have been able to do this season. The young Cardinals have completely outperformed expectations and are one of the hottest teams in the league in general. Right now, the Cardinals have a three-game winning streak and are now nine games above .500 at 27-18. St. Louis is in second place in the National League Central and is just two games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs. The Cardinals have taken the league by storm thanks to the young guys across the roster, like Jordan Walker, Masyn Winn, JJ Wetherholt and Michael McGreevy, among many others. Simply put, the Cardinals have been playing good baseball.

Baseball Is The Best

May 16, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals mascot Fredbird takes off his jersey and celebrates after the Cardinals defeated the Kansas City Royals at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Things haven't shifted for the better, though. The Cardinals were already good, but things are clicking, and the Stephen F. Austin club baseball team is a big reason why. Stephen F. Austin State University is a public university in Nacogdoches, Texas. On Friday night, a group of players from the Stephen F. Austin club baseball team took over the stands in right field and brought the "tarps off" trend to Busch Stadium. The Cardinals walked it off against the Kansas City Royals on Friday night and afterward, Bryce Bradford of Stephen F. Austin shared on X that the club baseball team kicked things off in right field.

On Saturday, Cardinals manager Oli Marmol took to X for the first time in six years and shared that he purchased tickets for fans who wanted to sit in the right field loge. On Friday night, he talked about how electric the atmosphere was and that he would do everything he could to get the group back. He stepped up and they returned on Saturday.

The boys returned and even were on the broadcast.

The Tarps Off crowd (@SFAClubBsbl) is here after a walk-off win in the NBCA Division II World Series in Alton, and yep, they propelled the #STLCards to another lead.@RegionalTVCat @STLSprtsCntrl pic.twitter.com/pveU9HQ09F
— Luke Slabaugh (@LukeSlabaugh) May 16, 2026

Behind another electric atmosphere, the Cardinals took down the Royals, 4-2.

It's getting hot in herre, so take off all your....shirts? pic.twitter.com/ntwjps1dcf
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) May 16, 2026

Afterward, the Cardinals brought the Stephen F. Austin club baseball team into the clubhouse.

SFA club baseball + #STLCards

Masyn Winn told everyone to flex as hard as they can. pic.twitter.com/xWYaccedgd
— Brenden Schaeffer🎳 (@bschaeffer12) May 16, 2026

When the Cardinals win, Oli Marmol often uses the phrase "shake hands" in reference to a W.

This certainly gives a new meaning to the phrase.

SFA club baseball and the St. Louis Cardinals -- both teams won today.

So, they shake hands.

Incredible. pic.twitter.com/qN3KSCkV7C
— Brenden Schaeffer🎳 (@bschaeffer12) May 16, 2026

This is what baseball is all about. The Cardinals have already taken the league by storm this season with their young roster. The vibes are immaculate right now. If you didn't hear about the Stephen F. Austin club baseball before, now you have. Baseball brings people together. The last two days at Busch Stadium arguably have been the most fun since Albert Pujols in his race for 700 homers. The Cardinals are back.

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