Darryl & Lori Schroeder Park (formerly known as Cougar Field) is a

baseball park A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into two field sections called the infield and the outfield. The infield is an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined in part ba ...

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. It is the home field of the

Houston Cougars baseball The Houston Cougars baseball team is the college baseball team of the University of Houston. Along with the university's other athletic teams, the baseball team is a member of the Big 12 Conference as a NCAA Division I, Division I team. They play ...

team. Several iterations of the ballpark have existed. The current stadium holds 5,000 people, and opened for baseball in 1995. With a 1,500 square foot Daktronics video board, Schroeder Park features the second-largest scoreboard in college baseball. Since its opening, Schroeder Park has hosted several notable

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, ...

events.Cougar Field
UH Athletics. Retrieved 15 November 2007. In February 2016, the University of Houston announced that, as a response to a large donation to the baseball program, Cougar Field would be renamed Darryl & Lori Schroeder Park.

History

Prior to 1961, the Cougars played at Buff Stadium. The original baseball stadium named Cougar Field was built roughly in the same area as the current one. Before 1968, it existed where Hofheinz Pavilion is today. To make room for the then new basketball arena, Cougar Field was moved next door.Scholl, Daniel
"Dreams, Days Gone by Mark of Era"
. ''The Daily Cougar''. Retrieved 13 November 2007. This iteration of Cougar Field stayed in the same location until March 29, 1994, when it was demolished in preparation for the establishment of the UH Athletics/Alumni center. To finish the rest of their season's home games, the Cougars played at Texas A&M University's Olsen Field and crosstown Rice University's Cameron Field.Wizig, Jerry
"Cougar Field Stories Abound"
Chron.com. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 13 November 2007.Carssow, Ryan

. ''The Daily Cougar''. Retrieved 13 November 2007. After a multimillion-dollar donation from Cougar alumnus and

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

owner John Moores, the current stadium was built throughout the remainder of the year, and had its first game on February 22, 1995. In late 2013, Houston, citing national competitiveness in recruiting, changed Schroeder Park's playing surface from natural grass to artificial turf. In September 2015, Houston announced a new 20,000 square foot clubhouse and player development center to be constructed for Schroeder Park. In October 2015, a new Daktronics video board with 1,500 square feet of space replaced the original one, and Schroeder Park became host to the largest scoreboard in college baseball.

Events hosted

Since its opening in 1995, Schroeder Park has hosted several notable college baseball events. In, 1999, 2000, 2015, and 2017 an NCAA Regional was hosted at the ball park. Also in 2000, Schroeder Park was home to an NCAA Super Regional. In addition, the

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and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Conference USA baseball tournaments were both hosted at the ballpark. In 2014, the USA Baseball 18U National Team held trials at the ballpark.

Features

Schroeder Park is a scaled-down version of a major league ballpark. Until October 2015, it featured a scoreboard with a

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Vidiwall LED video screen constructed by Spectrum Corporation.Scoreboards
Spectrum Corporation. Retrieved 24 November 2007. It was replaced by a Daktronics video board, known as the "Sanders-Gutierrez Scoreboard", which is the second-largest in college baseball (behind only Arkansas' Baum Stadium). Schroeder Park seats up to 5,000 spectators, with most of the seats covered by a canopy roof. For players, in addition to locker rooms, there are facilities for indoor batting practice, storage, and laundry. Schroeder Park's press box seats 28, and has booths for television and radio coverage. The field is made of artificial turf, which can increase the running speed, but can also increase injuries as compared to natural grass.

Attendance

In 2010, the Cougars ranked 45th among Division I baseball programs in attendance, averaging 1,262 per home game.

References

External links