Duffy Bass Field is a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

venue in Normal,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, USA. It is home to the Illinois State Redbirds baseball team of the Division I

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

. It was built in 1988 and has a capacity of 1,200 spectators, 1,000 of which is seated. The field is also home to the University High School Pioneers baseball team.

History

In both 1992 and 2003, the field was awarded the Professional Grounds Management Society's Honor Award for the excellent condition of its playing surface. Prior to 2008, the facility featured little seating and other amenities around the playing field. In 2006, however, a $3.4 million renovation project was announced, and construction began on July 15, 2008. Part of then-athletic director Sheahon Zenger's initiative to improve Redbird athletic facilities, the project added 1,000 stadium seats,

restrooms A public toilet, restroom, bathroom or washroom is a room or small building with toilets (or urinals) and sinks for use by the general public. The facilities are available to customers, travelers, employees of a business, school pupils or pris ...

, concession stands, and ticket windows. It also upgraded the venue's

press box The press box is a special section of a sports stadium or arena that is set up for the media to report about a given event. It is typically located in the section of the stadium holding the luxury box and can be either enclosed or open to the ...

and dugouts. An electronic scoreboard was added later. Browning Day Mullins Dierdorff Architects designed the stadium structure, while McCoy Construction built the new facilities. In fall 2012, a

FieldTurf FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by FieldTurf Tarkett, a division of French company Tarkett. FieldTurf is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and its primary manufacturing facility i ...

infield was installed at the facility, while the outfield surface remained natural grass. Prior to the renovation, the field's surface had been entirely natural grass. The 2013 Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament was held on May 21–25 2013 at Duffy Bass Field.

Naming

The field is named for former Illinois State baseball coach Duffy Bass. During Bass's 1964–1988 tenure, the Redbirds' record was 713–457–18. This record included a 1969 national championship in the

College Division The NCAA College Division was a historic subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) consisting of member schools competing at a lower level of college sports. The NCAA initially divided schools into a College Division and a ...

(the NCAA's now-defunct small school division). Duffy Bass Field has been home to the Horenberger/Bass Baseball Classic, an annual game which commemorates Bass and

Illinois Wesleyan University Illinois Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Bloomington, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1850, the central portion of the present campus was acquired in 1854 with the first building erected in 1856. History The in ...

's (in nearby Bloomington) former baseball coach Jack Horenberger. First played in 2004, the game alternates between Duffy Bass and Illinois Wesleyan's Jack Horenberger Field. Illinois State has won four of six classics played. The game was rained out in 2009, 2011, and 2012.

References

{{Illinois NCAA Division I college baseball venue navbox College baseball venues in Illinois Sports venues in Bloomington–Normal Illinois State Redbirds baseball 1988 establishments in Illinois Sports venues completed in 1988

History

Naming

See also

References