Tuesday morning of my San Antonio trip (work-ABF Freight), I took a very short drive from hotel over to the University of the Incarnate Word. There were two ways to reach the baseball field from my hotel and I took the local route, avoiding the major highways of San Antonio. I arrived in good spirits, eager to check out Sullivan Field, home of the UIW (University of the Incarnate Word) Cardinals baseball program. My spirits would fluctuate from the point of parking through my tour of Sullivan Field and back to my car and my eventual exit from UIW, ranging from glee to frustration then back to glee. Here is what happened…

After entering the campus via E Hildebrand Avenue, I wove my way through student buildings, campus offices, and over to the athletic complex area of the University. There were parking lots to my left and right and I figured I would find one convenient walking wise to the field. When I got to the back of the baseball field, (Sullivan Field to be exact) I did not notice any signs for parking or any kiosks to pay for parking. So, I exited my rental car and headed over to the field, which appeared to be open for viewing. Emotional level – glee.

Before I get into the remainder of my baseball experience at UIW, I wanted to mention that one of the reasons I wanted to check out the campus was because of the recent NFL draft. The number 1 pick, University of Miami’s Cam Ward, played 2 seasons at the University of the Incarnate Word before transferring to Washington State, then eventually again to the University of Miami. Ward set all sorts of records as a freshman and sophomore at UIW and his talent kept building momentum through his 4 or 5 years as a college quarterback. He was selected with the first overall pick in the 2025 by the Tennessee Titans. Pretty cool story.

Tuesday morning, I gleefully walked around Sullivan Field checking out different views of the field. I hopped into the bleachers, walked the perimeter of the foul lines, and snapped photos with my typical glee-ness. It was a cloudy day but not a bad weather day overall. Temps were very mild and a moderate breeze popped up every so often. After a full walk through of the outfield, I headed back to the exit point from where I came in. Then, I saw a man in a white security truck getting into his vehicle. The sticker on the side of the truck read “parking enforcement.” Oops, I thought.

Well, my glee went straight to anxiety then to disgust as I noticed a ticket flickering in the wind pressed to my windshield by my windshield wipers. I removed the ticket and gasped. 100 bucks for illegal parking. Oh no. I looked around for the truck to try to explain myself and my literal 5 minutes of time on the baseball field. The truck and the parking lot attendant was nowhere in sight. So, I sought out a visitor’s center office and through another UIW employee driving by on a golf cart, I found the office. I brought the ticket to the visitor center manager, spoke to him about why I was on campus, why I parked where I was, even offered to pay for parking in a normal lot, and asked him what I could do about the ticket. He took the ticket, read it over, explained the parking policy at UIW, then assured me that he would take care of the ticket. I thanked him several times, he asked me if I was leaving, and I said yes. He showed me the way out and I left, gleefully again.

Note to baseball fans going on college campuses, find visitor parking and pay for it, should there be an hourly fee or flat fee. Honestly, I get lucky a lot of times and find a convenient spot. But 99 times out of 100, I seek out a campus official or simply ask someone on campus where to park, where to pay, etc. Don’t absorb a huge ticket when you don’t have to. And huge thanks to the visitor’s center for straightening me out on the UIW parking policies and where to park and pay next time I visit UIW.

Overall, it was another amazing and emotional San Antonio baseball experience visiting the University of the Incarnate Word and Sullivan Field, home of the UIW Cardinals baseball program.