The deafening roars of the crowd echoed throughout Citizens Bank Park during game three of the World Series. All the excitement and anticipation throughout the game created a recipe for success for the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Phillies tied a World Series record of five home runs in one game, winning game three 7-0 and taking a 2-1 series lead over the Houston Astros.

However, their luck ran out afterward. The Astros won the next three straight games, claiming victory in the 2022 World Series.

Like many baseball fans around the country, senior business administration major Nic Vamis was rooting against the Astros because of cheating controversies from 2017 and 2019. But the Astros’ combined no-hitter performance in game four to tie the series at 2-2 had Vamis uncertain about the outcome of the series.

“The Phillies, in game three, beat the Astros 7-0. They had all the momentum and hit five homers, and then afterwards they just got no-hit (by the Astros),” Vamis said before game five of the series. “So I really don’t know what to expect tonight.”

The sixth-seed Phillies snuck into the playoffs with 87 wins — 19 wins less than the top-seeded Astros. Vamis said that the Phillies had that underdog mantra, and coupling that with their talented lineup, the Phillies have powered their way through the postseason.

“They rake, they can hit,” Vamis said. “They have some big batters in their lineups and their pitching has shown up, and they’ve done that throughout the whole playoffs and they’ve done that so far in the world series.”

The underdog mantra — which worked for the Philadelphia Eagles when they won the Super Bowl in 2018 — did not work for the Phillies this year. After falling behind 1-2 in the series, the Astros won three straight games, clinching the newest title of World Series champion.

In game six at the bottom of the 6th inning, with one out and second baseman Jose Altuve at third base and shortstop Jeremy Pena at first, Yordan Alvarez crushed a go-ahead home run, giving the Astros a 3-1 lead. 

Catcher Christian Vasquez hit a single to left field, bringing in third baseman Alex Bregman to score and extending their lead 4-1. 

Junior biology major Warner Rhodes was also rooting against the Astros like Vamis but credited the Astros for their efforts this season.

“You gotta give respect to them,” Rhodes said. “They basically brought in a whole new group of guys and changed the culture around (the organization). But they’ve always been pretty good, and you got to give them respect where respect is due. And I think one of the main parts (to their success) is they got veterans in the field (and) their pitching was probably the best in the league.”

For the first time in his 25 years of coaching baseball teams, manager Dusty Baker won his first world series title. On top of this feat, Pena took home the World Series MVP, the third rookie in MLB history to win this award. 

Freshman communication studies major Edgar Garcia pointed out how special it was for Pena to win this award, given how well the shortstop before him played.

“It’s honestly amazing how they lost Carlos Correa and they just basically replaced him with someone who’s just as good if not maybe even better than (Correa),” Garcia said. “He’s definitely going to be a top player — MVP in the MLB. (This) is his breakout year.”

Even though the Phillies came up short, Rhodes said the Phillies should still be optimistic about next season with right fielder Bryce Harper and catcher J.T. Realmuto on the roster. 

“They got a lot of young guys with Bryson Stott as well as Alec Bohm who are gonna be good for several years to come, so I think they have that to look forward to,” Rhodes said in addition to star players Harper and Realmuto. “Their pitching staff wasn’t bad, but they have to improve that over the offseason. I think just building more depth, getting a four and five starter, I think their one, two, and three are pretty solid, but basically after the three starters (the roster depth) drops off pretty fast.”

The Astros put together a complete season, winning over 100 games and capping it off with a championship title. Garcia thinks that this title will change any negative impressions people have of the Astros organization.

“They were getting trashed, and just being able to dominate from the beginning of the regular season to winning the championship while everybody was rooting against them, for them to do that, they gained a lot of respect and shut a lot of people up,” Garcia said. “I think the way they’re seen as a team definitely changed.”