Buck Beltzer Stadium (originally The Nebraska Diamond or The Husker Diamond) was 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 the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the M ...

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's List of cities in Nebraska, second-most populous city a ...

. It primarily served as the home venue for the

Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball The Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball team competes as part of NCAA Division I, representing the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the Big Ten Conference. Nebraska plays its home games at Haymarket Park, Hawks Field at Haymarket Park, built in 20 ...

team from the mid-1940s until 2001, when the university constructed Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.

History

The stadium was located northeast of Memorial Stadium adjacent to Interstate 180, and was known as The Nebraska Diamond when opened in the mid-1940s. The field was initially little more than a dirt infield and a handful of temporary wooden bleachers. The ballpark had an

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...

infield installed in 1977 and was renamed in 1979 in honor of Oren "Buck" Beltzer, a standout football and baseball player at Nebraska who was captain of both teams in 1909, after a donation from the Beltzer family allowed for the installation of covered dugouts, a press box, and 1,000 permanent aluminum seats (expanded to 1,500 shortly after). Donations from the Californians for Nebraska alumni association allowed for installation of a scoreboard in 1981 and lights in 1989. By the time of its closing, Buck Beltzer Stadium was considered out-of-date and lacked many features common among major Division I college baseball venues. The artificial turf infield had fallen out of favor despite several replacements since its initial installation in 1977, and the turf-to-grass transition from infield to outfield was unique among collegiate venues. The stadium could not have a warning track or a permanent fence because Nebraska's football team used the outfield to practice for games to be played on grass. These practices meant the outfield was often covered in divots, making ground balls difficult for outfielders to properly field (termed "the bounce of the Buck" or "the Buck bounce"). Despite its shortcomings, the unique features and intimate environment at Buck Beltzer Stadium made it generally well-liked by Nebraska's players and supporters, especially as the program improved under

Dave Van Horn David Kevin Van Horn (born September 17, 1960) is an American college baseball coach and former infielder, who is the head baseball coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks baseball, Arkansas Razorbacks. Van Horn won a Division II national title in 1994 ...

– the team elected to finish the 2001 season at the Buck despite the newly constructed Hawks Field being available to host late-season games. Buck Beltzer Stadium hosted five NCAA Division I tournament games, all in 2001 – these were the five largest crowds in the ballpark's history as extra bleachers were installed to increase capacity to over 5,000. Nebraska's final game at the stadium was a 9–6 win over

Rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

to send the program to its first

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

. NU's record at the venue after its 1979 dedication was 527–137.

Closure

When the team moved to its new facility in 2002, descendants of Beltzer unsuccessfully campaigned the university and

City of Lincoln Lincoln () is a cathedral city and non-metropolitan district, district in Lincolnshire, England, of which it is the county town. In the 2021 Census, the city's district had a population of 103,813. The 2021 census gave the Lincoln Urban Area, u ...

to name the field after Buck. Buck Beltzer Stadium was converted into football practice fields as part of the Hawks Championship Center before being demolished in its entirety in 2020 to make room for the Osborne Legacy Complex.

References

{{Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball navbox, state=collapsed 1979 establishments in Nebraska 2001 disestablishments in Nebraska Baseball venues in Nebraska Defunct college baseball venues in the United States Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball