As SunTrust Park’s official opening day nears, the new Braves stadium will get another trial run this weekend by hosting a college baseball game.
Georgia and Missouri will play an SEC game there at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, the last game in the stadium before the Braves’ regular-season home opener April 14.
Unlike the Braves-Yankees exhibition game in the stadium last week, when attendance was limited to season-ticket holders, tickets are on sale to the general public for Saturday’s game.
More than 20,000 tickets have been sold, according to UGA.
All individual tickets are $15, with proceeds benefiting Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
Braves executives see the game as an opportunity to work out some glitches before the stadium welcomes a standing-room-only crowd to the opener against the San Diego Padres.
“It’s another test,” said Mike Plant, the Braves’ president of development.
The 41,149-seat Cobb County stadium received mostly rave reviews from fans who attended the Braves-Yankees exhibition, although there were some issues that team officials vowed to correct before opening day.
Those issues included a video-board malfunction, longer-than-desired waits at concession stands and an obstruction that blocked the view of the field for some fans in front-row seats down the left-field line.
UGA, like the Braves, advises that fans attending Saturday’s game purchase tickets and parking passes in advance and navigate to their specific parking lot by using the Waze traffic app.
Advance tickets and parking passes can be purchased through Ticketmaster. Tickets also will be sold Saturday at the stadium, but only one parking lot will accept on-site payments.
The game will be the finale of a three-game series between Georgia and Missouri, with the first two games at Foley Field in Athens on Thursday and Friday nights.
Missouri brought an overall record of 21-8 (4-5 SEC) into the series, but was on a six-game losing streak. Georgia was 13-17 (3-6 SEC).
Another college game will be played at SunTrust Park on May 9: Georgia vs. Georgia Tech in the 15th annual Spring Baseball Classic for Kids. That game, held at Turner Field the past 14 years, also benefits Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
