SACRAMENTO -- The UC Davis baseball and women's gymnastics teams joined forces to bring a taste of Halloween to the patients at the Shriners Hospital for Children - Northern California on Halloween, constructing a haunted house and passing out treats to the kids as part of the event.

The UC Davis baseball team has participated in similar events with the Shriners Hospital for Children over the last 18 years alongside their gymnastics counterparts, using mats and other equipment, along with trash bags, string, duct tape, and other goodies to construct a different haunted house -- one scary, another not so much, for the different age groups -- each year.

"It's a great day, not only for the kids at the hospital, but for our student-athletes as well," head baseball coach Matt Vaughn said. "In watching our student-athletes put on this event over the years, you get a strong sense of 'Aggie Pride.' It is one of the best examples of who we want our student-athletes to be off the field. It makes you proud to be an Aggie."

Located minutes from Downtown Sacramento, the Shriners Hospital treats children with orthopedic conditions, spinal cord injuries, burns, cleft lip, scars from any cause, specialized plastic surgery, and other complex surgical needs since opening its doors in 1997. The hospital is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top 50 pediatric orthopedic programs in conjunction with the UC Davis Children's Hospital, and is distinguished as the region's most active and most noted pediatric burn center.

"We host many events here at Shriners Hospitals for Children, Northern California and, by far, the UC Davis baseball team helps make Halloween one of our most spectacular ones," said Melissa Grialou, Child Life/Therapeutic Recreation and School Manager for Shriners Hospitals for Children, Northern California. "The haunted house is loved by all and gives the patients an opportunity to feel like, for at least a night, they aren't in the hospital. You can tell the student-athletes have just as much fun as the patients and our team could not have Halloween without them."

For more information on the Shriners Hospital, visit them online at http://www.shrinershospitalsforchildren.org/Locations/northerncalifornia.