After 28 games played away from Johnny Reagan Field, the Murray State baseball team will finally host a home series.
Murray State officials announced on March 30 on the athletics social media pages and GoRacers.com that “phase one” of the baseball field renovations is complete.
This first phase included a new scoreboard, outfield wall and drainage throughout the outfield. These upgrades were completely donor-funded.
“We are making a tremendous amount of progress by revamping the facility profile of Johnny Reagan Field to make it one of the best in the Missouri Valley Conference,” said Nico Yantko, athletics director. “We continue to prioritize fan experience and revenue generation in all of our facilities, and the completion of the first phase of this project will have a major impact on our baseball program as we look towards hosting the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in May.”
The video board placed behind the right-center field fence is a 20-foot-by-40-foot board, making it the largest video board in a Missouri Valley Conference baseball field and is comparable to some found in power conference ballparks. The video board will be able to show stats, live video feed and Trackman data. The athletics department also plans to host movie nights at the ballpark using the scoreboard.
The infield has been completely replaced with turf from FieldTurf’s DoublePlay system. The goal of the turf is to “replicate the best ballparks in America,” according to FieldTurf’s website. Eighteen Division 1 schools use FieldTurf’s DoublePlay system, including fellow MVC school Illinois State.
“We’re incredibly excited to expand our relationship with Murray State University and the Racers athletics department. Murray State is the latest among a long list of elite college baseball programs to entrust the FieldTurf DoublePlay system on its home field,” JC Field, national baseball development manager at FieldTurf, said on a GoRacers.com post. “As the surface of choice at Roy Stewart Stadium for nearly two decades, we look forward to extending our presence on campus to Johnny Reagan Field.”
The next phase is the Jim and Sue Cash Baseball Clubhouse, which will add a 3,000-square-foot facility that will feature a new locker room, player lounge, meeting room and training room behind the right field wall.
The first series at Johnny Reagan Field will be April 2-4 against the Belmont Bruins.
