November 1, 2025
Copy by Albania Ponce
Photos by Randi Mendolia
On Aug. 15-16, 2025, the Party Animals came to the Baum-Walker Stadium as part of their Banana Ball World Tour. The baseball team is based in Savannah, Ga. and, along with three other teams, adds an exciting and entertaining twist to the game.
The Banana Ball games are very popular, gaining most of their recognition through social media. Camila Wagner, a first-year accounting major, and Rachel Tipton, a first-year civil engineering major, were two fans that had heard of the Banana Ball games but had never been to one.
“I wanted to attend the event because I had never seen a Banana Ball game besides on TikTok,” Wagner said.
“I had known about the whole Savannah Bananas company and the Party Animals are a part of it.” Tipton said.
The Party Animals, along with the rest of the Banana Ball company, love to entertain and bring energy to the audience. In order to make the game interesting, the Banana Ball rules are very different from the rules of regular baseball, some being “no blunting” and “fans can make outs by catching the ball.” Along with the different rules, the Banana Ball games mix showmanship into the event by adding dancing, performances and skits.
The game rules and performances that are specifically for fan entertainment really bring up the energy at these events. Kylie Bui, a first-year biology major, and Tipton described the game as “exciting” and “new.”
Wagner said, “Every single person was so hype and kind and honestly the energy was crazy.”
Alongside the source of entertainment that the Party Animals brought to the University of Arkansas, they also brought work opportunities for students. Students were allowed the opportunity to help the Party Animals with their event and earn money for their service. Bui and Wagner worked for this event.
“On the 15th, I was in the merch stand where we were basically selling the merch and organizing the product,” Wagner said. “On the 16th, I was a ticket scanner at the entrance to get into the game.”
“I got to work with a random diverse group of people, so it was fun to talk to everyone while helping with the Party Animals,” Bui said.
When asked if they would attend the event again, Wagner, Bui and Tipton all said that they would attend the event again or another event by the Banana Ball company.
“I didn’t go with anyone and wasn’t sure what to expect, but after the first 30 minutes, I made a friend and made the most out of the two shifts I worked,” Bui said.