By Shelley McKinley While the Cactus Jack HBCU Classic opened with a Celebrity Softball game that provides scholarship opportunities for students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and featured the likes of CJ Stroud of the Houston Texans and Jeremy Peña of the Houston Astros, the collegiate tournament was all about connecting the community to HBCU baseball, and providing a platform for the athletes to showcase their talent. Other events, including the Astros Youth Academy College Fair, an ‘Old School’ HBCU party hosted by Scarface and Bun B, and an Astros Foundation Gospel Breakfast, complemented the tournament. Concerning baseball, the nine game tournament featured three games per day played by members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC): Texas Southern University, Prairie View A&M, and four schools from neighboring Louisiana and Mississippi – Southern University, Grambling State, Jackson State, and Alcorn State University. All the HBCU student athletes had the opportunity to play in Minute Maid park, a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium and the batters had the experience of hitting in a closed-roof arena, which was a first for some. The in-state rivalry matchups between Texas Southern vs. Prairie View, Southern vs. Grambling State, and Jackson State vs. Alcorn State
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