Vanderbilt will receive the presidential treatment when it makes its College World Series debut Saturday.
President George W. Bush will throw out the first pitch for Game One of the tournament, which will be the Commodores’ matchup against North Carolina.
The NCAA announced Bush’s participation Tuesday. He also threw out the first pitch at a 2001 CWS game between Tulane and Stanford.
“President Bush was the first sitting president to attend the College World Series in 2001, and it is our privilege to have the former president return and open the Series by throwing out the first pitch,” Dennis Poppe, NCAA vice president for Division I football and baseball, said in a release. “In addition, he will represent his father, George H.W. Bush, who played in the first-ever College World Series in 1947.”
The game also will be the first for the CWS at TD Ameritrade Stadium, which was built as a replacement for Rosenblatt Stadium, the long-time home of the event.
“It’s great to have the former president back in Omaha for the inaugural game of the College World Series in the new TD Ameritrade Park Omaha,” Jack Diesing Jr., president of College World Series of Omaha Inc., said. “Ten years ago, he attended the College World Series and we’re honored to have him back to experience the new home of the Series.”