Texas Southern University to build first on-campus baseball and softball stadiums with donations from Astros Foundation

Texas Southern University began playing intercollegiate baseball almost 60 years ago. The Tigers have yet to play on their home campus, but that is about to change with significant support from the city’s most famous team.

Texas Southern, a historically black university in Houston’s Third Ward, received a $1 million donation from the Astros Foundation over the weekend so it can build baseball and softball stadiums on campus. College teams currently play their home games in city parks – the baseball team at McGregor Park and the softball team at Memorial Park.

“This partnership is a game changer for our student athletes,” said Kevin Granger, TSU vice president of intercollegiate athletics, in a press release about the donation. “Our players are already doing well in the classroom as scholars. Now they will get the opportunities they deserve as athletes.”

According to a Houston Astros press release, Texas Southern is expected to start building stadiums later this year. The school’s baseball team kicked off its season last week at the inaugural Cactus Jack HBCU Classic, which the Astros hosted at Minute Maid Park through a partnership with Houston rapper Travis Scott and his Cactus Jack Foundation.

The university was given a formal check during a weekend round robin that also included peers from HBCU, Prairie View A&M, Grambling State, Jackson State, Mississippi Valley State and Southern.

Lesia Crumpton-Young, president of Texas Southern, said the upcoming on-campus baseball stadiums will benefit not only the school’s baseball and softball players, but also its alumni and the Third Ward community at large.

“TSU students deserve the opportunity to move from playing and watching baseball in a city park to having their own stadium on campus,” said Paula Harris, director of the Astros Foundation. “The entire World Series-winning Astros organization is proud to be part of a historic and monumental opportunity for Texas Southern University baseball.”