Sooner Sluggers to Host Joint Halloween Game

Game Details
What	Halloween Game
Where	Marita Hynes Field
When	October 29 - 6:00 pm
Why	ALS Awareness Fundraiser

Pete Frates
Pete played baseball for Coach Hughes at Boston College and served as the Eagles' team captain in 2007. In March of 2012, he was diagnosed with ALS. Over the past three years, Pete has been the single greatest ambassador and champion to raise money to fight ALS. During the summer of 2014, Pete was one of the driving forces behind the #IceBucketChallenge campaign to raise money for ALS research. That same summer, Pete and his wife Julie welcomed their first child, Lucy, on August 31. To donate to the ALS Association click HERE.

NORMAN, Okla. – University of Oklahoma baseball coach Pete Hughes and softball coach Patty Gasso have teamed up to host the Third Annual ALS Awareness Halloween Game on Thursday, October 29 at 6:00 pm. One of the fastest growing traditions Hughes brought to Norman in 2013 will move to Marita Hynes Field this season. Admission is free for fans and kids of all ages, who are encouraged to arrive in costume. The Sooners will take the field for a six-inning, mixed-squad, slow-pitch softball scrimmage dressed in costume for the event.

“Anytime we can be affiliated with Coach Gasso's program and raise awareness for a disease that's close to my heart is a special night,” claimed Hughes. “We're very grateful for coach Gasso and her team; very grateful that they want to team up and be a part of it.”

“We are excited about joining forces with them and doing our part to help raise more money for ALS awareness,” added Gasso. “It'll be a lot of fun to engage with them and see all of the costumes. Both programs have worked really hard through the fall so this is a welcome relief of fun, but the main point is helping support Coach Hughes and his initiative to help raise money for the cause.”

Kids attending the game in costume will have the opportunity to trick-or-treat at the field and meet with players. Kids in costume will also be invited down to the field for a picture with the teams at the conclusion of the game. Gates will open at 5:00 pm.

The crowds at the annual game have surpassed 600 in each of the past two seasons. Over the past two games, the OU baseball players have traded in their traditional uniforms to take the field as Olaf (Frozen), Russell (Up), Donkey (Shrek) and Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) among many others. Coach Hughes has surprised the fans at the ballpark dressed in costume as the guest throwing out the first pitch. In 2013, he arrived as Barry Switzer and in 2014 pulled on his cowboy boots, hat and blonde wig to be Toby Keith.

“This game has been the hit of the year,” remarked Hughes. “Everywhere we go, people ask about the Halloween game. I just think it's awesome for bringing awareness to ALS, for who it represents and be a part of his fight. At the same time, it's a great family night and that's who we are; that's what Patty's program is. We're about community and family and there's no better night to bring all sides together for our ALS Awareness Halloween Game.”

The game is the centerpiece of OU's #StrikeoutALS campaign. At the heart of the game, it's a fundraising effort that will count as one of the baseball team's community service projects in its 2015-16 19 Ways campaign, an effort to impact the Norman community in 19 different ways throughout the academic year.

All funds raised through the event will go to the ALS Association. During the summer of 2014, Hughes, Gasso and several players took part in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that went viral through social media. That particular campaign was spearheaded by Pete Frates, a former standout baseball player under Hughes at Boston College. Hughes started the Halloween Game tradition at Virginia Tech in 2012 in an effort to raise awareness and money for ALS research.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooner Sluggers to Host Joint Halloween Game

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