Weekend Recap: Party Animals Sweep Texas Tailgaters in Arkansas

Tanner Thomas led the way as the Party Animals got revenge against the Texas Tailgaters this weekend

The Party Animals’ Drew Gillespie delivers the last pitch of the game against The Visitors June 26, 2025 / Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

While the Savannah Bananas were playing in Chicago against the Firefighters, the Party Animals and Texas Tailgaters were playing an equally exciting series in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Baum-Walker Stadium was full of excited Banana Ball fans. 

Beginning last season, the Party Animals have been playing as the home team in games. Their headlining tour has been longer this year and has been a lot of fun. This has come with some exciting new elements of the game day atmosphere. Instead of the Bananas’ mascot Split, there is the Party Animals’ mascot Pharty, instead of the Man-nanas, there is the Party Starters, and instead of the Banana Band there is the Party Down Band. Plus, there are actual bartenders on the sideline! It’s quite a difference from a Bananas headlining game. 

It’s been so fun to watch the Party Animals play in some college baseball stadiums because the vibe of the Party Animals fits so perfectly with the college atmosphere.  But even without the Bananas, the dancing is still top notch.

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Now let’s get to the actual games. Last week, the Texas Tailgaters swept the Party Animals in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. So the Party Animals had some revenge on their mind. The first game was a close back and forth contest. The Party Animals led 3-2 going into the 9th inning. 

In the top of the 9th Brett Carson brought a runner from third home off of an infield hit to tie the game. (If you want to hear an interview that I did with Brett Carson click here). Party Animals pitcher Drew Gillespie didn’t allow another run so the game entered the bottom of the 9th tied at 3. 

The ending of the game was a little interesting. With a runner on second, the Party Animals elected to use the Golden Batter Rule and brought Reece Hampton up to the plate. He hit a beautiful ball down the third base line and it looked like a walk off double, but fans interfered with the play! A fan reach over the wall and touched the ball even though it was fair. Instead of ending the game this sent Hampton to second and Mark Smith to third. A walk off RBI double would have been an exciting ending but instead the game ending on a ball four sprint that sent Mark Smith home for the game winning run. Even with the fan interference the Party Animals were able to pull off the victory! 

The second game was hardly a contest as the Party Animals ran away with it 5-0. The Party Animals definitely avenged their sweep last week and were able to remind the world why they have the best record in the sport right now. Tanner Thomas was the player of the week. He had an incredible performance in the two games with one hume run and five RBIs.

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You can catch our entire breakdown of this weekend’s games, including this epic series between the Party Animals and the Tailgaters, on this week’s episode of the Banana Breakdown Podcast: 

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