Shirtless fans boost Cardinals to extra-innings win: 'That was a fun environment'

Yohel Pozo's walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th innning helped the St. Louis Cardinals top the Kansas City Royals 5-4 on Friday night. The hit was the culmination of a rise in energy inside Busch Stadium, powered by a group of shirtless fans in right field.

The group, which grew as the game went on, helped build an atmosphere that stuck with Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol after the game.

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“Whoever started that in right field, I'll do whatever I need to do to make sure they come to every game,” Marmol said before taking questions from reporters. “Because that was awesome. Not only them, but everybody that showed up today. That was a fun environment.”

Marmol stressed that he believed the energy helped his team during their extra-innings win.

“It creates an environment where, it’s not only filling this place up, it’s making it a tough place for other teams to come in and play,” Marmol said. “That was pretty damn cool. I’ll sign up for that, any day.”

The group that started the shirtless situation in the Busch Stadium outfield were members of the Stephen F. Austin club baseball team who were playing in the nearby National Club Baseball Association DII World Series this week.

They lost to Grand Valley in the afternoon and then headed to St. Louis for the Cardinals game where they made their voices heard and their chests seen.

"We came here after our game to have a great time,” said SFA player Bryce Bradford, via Brandon Kiley of 101 ESPN. “It got close and we were like, 'Screw it, let's go to an empty section and take off our shirts.' Everyone was kind of scared at first. I was like, 'Screw it, I'll do it' and took off my shirt."

Bradford added that there was no plan and they were happy to see that what they started ended up spreading in the stadium.

The win helped the Cardinals improve to 26-18 on the season as they sit 2.5 games behind the Central Division leading Chicago Cubs and remain in a NL wild card spot.