Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark is a

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

on the campus of

Grand Canyon University Grand Canyon University (GCU) is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit Christian university in Phoenix, Arizona. The university offers degrees in over 200 areas of study and is administrativel ...

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. It hosts the Grand Canyon Antelopes of the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

. The field is named for Dr. Dave Brazell, considered to be "the founder and developer of Canyon baseball." As the coach of the Lopes for 28 seasons, Brazell put together a record of 728–385–8. The playing surface is composed complete of natural grass, save for infield foul territory where

AstroTurf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for pitch (sports field), playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a pile (textile), short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Si ...

was installed in 2018. An inning-by-inning digital scoreboard is visible in left-center field.

History

Field established

In 1962, the program's facility was relocated from a more centralized location on the campus to the west end with the left field fence running parallel to 35th Avenue. The layout of the field remains largely unchanged from its 1962 debut. In 1970, the field was named Brazell Field, after the program's first coach, Dave Brazell, who had designed the field in 1961.

Brazell Stadium era

With the addition of bleacher seating, the facility transitioned from Brazell Field to Brazell Stadium in 1987. Gold-colored bleachers wrapped around the home plate area, extending to each team's dugouts on either side. The stadium featured lights, making night games possible. In the off-season prior to the 2014 baseball season, large shades were added over the stands. The official capacity for the venue was 1,500. Improvements over the years at Brazell Stadium included replacement of wood bleachers, backstop improvements and the awning. On February 21, 2014, the Grand Canyon Antelopes baseball team hosted the inaugural game in which the Lopes were a full member of the WAC Conference. The Lopes defeated the

Hofstra Pride The Hofstra Pride (formerly the Hofstra Flying Dutchmen) are composed of 17 teams representing Hofstra University in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women’s basketball, cross-country running, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis and tra ...

8–1 behind a complete game from starting pitcher Jorge Perez. After spending four seasons in Division I for baseball only from 1995 to 1998, the entire athletic department made the jump to

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

for the fall of 2013. Since the return to Division I for the baseball program, the Lopes boasted a 35–13 record at Brazell Stadium through the 2015 season.

Birth of GCU Ballpark

In August 2016, the university announced its 10-in-2 initiative to build 10 new athletic facilities in two years to coincide with the final stages of GCU's full Division I membership. Among these 10 facilities was a new baseball stadium, later named GCU Ballpark. The new name of the facility was announced as Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark on January 22, 2018. Demolition of the former stadium including the press box, grandstands, and dugouts began on May 22, 2017, following the conclusion of the home portion of the team's schedule. The new facility delivers several new amenities for the program: chairback seating for over 3,000 fans, a multi-room press box, an upgraded sound system, an entertainment patio in right field, berm seating for fans in right field, an on-site concession stand and a team store.

Into the 2020s

The ballpark got a new video board in right-center field in May 2022. Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark hosted its first national television broadcast on February 18, 2023, when

MLB Network MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with TNT Sports (United States), TNT Sports, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Communications h ...

televised Grand Canyon's home opener against No. 2

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as part of the MLB Desert Invitational. Stephen Nelson, Rubén Amaro Jr. and Jim Callis were on the call. The Lopes defeated the Volunteers 4–3 in front of 4,457 fans.

Gallery

file:Grand Canyon University Practice Baseball Field, 3300 W Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85017 - panoramio (10).jpg file:Grand Canyon University Baseball Field, 3300 W Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85017 - panoramio (15).jpg file:Grand Canyon University Baseball Field, 3300 W Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85017 - panoramio (19).jpg file:Grand Canyon University Baseball Field, 3300 W Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85017 - panoramio (26).jpg file:Grand Canyon University Baseball Field, 3300 W Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85017 - panoramio (11).jpg

Notes

References

External links

* {{Grand Canyon University Athletic Venues Grand Canyon Antelopes baseball College baseball venues in Arizona Sports venues in Phoenix, Arizona 1962 establishments in Arizona Sports venues completed in 1962