Despite added security, another rowdy College Night at ballpark

Despite the Phillies' best efforts to avoid the rowdiness of their first College Night last week, last night's College Night again was plagued by disorderly young fans.

In the sixth inning, a fan ran onto the field and halted play. That incident was not isolated, as fans strew the field with debris and were ejected for rowdiness.

This was despite an increased security presence, along with restrictions to beer sales in the upper decks, in an attempt to bring greater crowd control to College Nights.

The first College Night, Wednesday, April 4, resulted in 31 fan ejections.

"We don't have to do these kinds of things on a normal Sunday night," said Mike Stiles, Phillies vice president of operations and administration.

Stiles said that while the average number of ejections at Citizens Bank Park was seven per game last season, College Nights more than doubled that, with an average of 16 per game.

"We're pleased with the increase in attendance of college fans," he said, "but we don't want to ruin the experience of other fans, by bad fan behavior." *

- Nolan Rosenkrans