J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park 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 ...

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 ...

in Ruston,

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is the home field of the

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public university, public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and Carnegie Classification of Institu ...

Bulldogs The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is a stocky, muscular dog of medium size, with a large head, thick folds of skin around the face and shoulders and a rel ...

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, ...

team.

History

The facility features a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of 2,100 much of which is chairback seating. Prior to the 2016 season, artificial field turf was installed to replace the natural grass playing surface. The ballpark also boasts large picnic and viewing areas beyond the outfield wall that are very popular with Tech fans and the "Right Field Rowdies" cheering section. In 1997, a then school-record of 3,251 fans attended the Bulldogs' game against eventual national champion LSU. On May 22, 2008, the facility was rededicated as J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park in honor of Tech legend Pat Patterson. The stadium was the sight of one of the greatest comebacks in college baseball history during the 2006 season. Down 12–6 with two outs in the bottom of the 9th to #3

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

, Tech scored seven runs on eight singles and one walk to win the game 13–12. On March 15, 2017, a new attendance record was set in a game against the

Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns are the athletic teams of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The college has been competing athletically since 1901. The Ragin' Cajuns compete in NCAA Division I, fielding 16 varsity teams. Nickname The unive ...

, at 3,311.

Rebuild

During the early morning hours of April 25, 2019, an EF-3 tornado destroyed the facility, deeming it unplayable for the remainder of the season. The 2020 season was played at Ruston High's baseball field before its cancellation in mid-March due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The stadium was demolished during the spring of 2020 and construction began on a new stadium in the summer of 2020. The first game at the new J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park was Friday, February 26, 2021. Tech beat

Southern University Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a Public university, public historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. It i ...

9–2. Fans were not allowed inside the stadium due to ongoing construction, but hundreds watched from beyond the left field wall. Total capacity of the facility is 2,100. There is a fixed seating capacity of 1,322 permanent chair back seats, as well as a first base turf berm area for fans to bring chairs. Extending down the right field line is an area for tailgate tents and there is also a grass berm beyond the right field fence that is the home of the Kennel, the student section. The stadium walls are all padded in Tech blue. The outfield wall varies in height with it being 12’ in left field and dropping to 8’ in right center (315’ left, 380’ center, 325’ right). The pressbox level features four suites, a radio booth for both home and visiting teams, scoreboard productions, TV production and a booth for the writing press. The scoreboard is a Daktronics scoreboard featuring both a video screen and a fixed digit scoreboard. There is an additional auxiliary scoreboard in the stands so the fans in the outfield can see the game updates.

Notable Games

In the new re-built J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park, the Bulldogs have tallied wins over the #1 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks and the #4 ranked Ole Miss Rebels. Louisiana Tech hosted an NCAA Division I regional for the first time June 4–6, 2021. North Carolina State won the regional championship, defeating Alabama once and Tech twice.

Tournaments Hosted

Conference Tournaments: 2021, 2024 ( CUSA)
NCAA Regional Tournaments: 2021

Attendance Records

Top 10 Largest Crowds at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park

Gallery

File:J. C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park - Ruston, LA.jpg, J. C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park grandstand File:J. C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park Field View - Ruston, LA.jpg, J. C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park ball field File:J. C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park-Left and Center Field.png, J. C. Love Field at Pat Patterson, left and center

References

External links

J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park
{{coord, 32.529845, -92.651278, type:landmark, display=title Baseball venues in Louisiana College baseball venues in the United States Louisiana Tech Bulldogs baseball Sports venues in Ruston, Louisiana Buildings and structures in Lincoln Parish, Louisiana Sports venues completed in 1971 1971 establishments in Louisiana