Kansas Baseball Facilities Upgraded

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LAWRENCE, Kan. – Hoglund Ballpark, home of the Kansas Jayhawks, received a $250,000 facelift over the week of fall break so it can continue its trend as being one of the most sought after college baseball facilities in the Midwest.
 
The renovations have given the seasoned ballpark a brand new look with state-of-the-art playing facilities, and will further improve the Jayhawks’ recruiting. Head coach Ritch Price and the team alike is pleased with the final results.
 
“We continue to make Hoglund Ballpark a better place to play and develop our players each and every year,” Price said. “It’s a fabulous facility and I couldn’t be more proud of it.”
 
Three major upgrades were started and completed beginning with the Padgett Family Indoor Facility. Three new turf mounds were installed in each batting cage, along with replacing the former turf with new field turf. New cabinets were also installed for storing equipment.
 
Hoglund Ballpark itself received new pads behind home plate and along the outfield and foul line walls. The outfield wall features the new Big 12 conference logos and highlights Kansas’ baseball achievements including NCAA and College World Series banners.  Spotlighted on the outfield wall hangs the only retired number of the winningest coach in Kansas baseball history, Floyd Temple who donned number 13.
 
The bullpens were also on the to-do list in which all the dirt mounds were replaced with contemporary turf ones, similar to the indoor facility. Once the Jayhawks finish fall practice, the game mound will also be turfed resulting in a fully-turfed playing surface which will allow the Jayhawks to battle Mother Nature early on in the season.  
 
When Kansas baseball travels they will have to adjust to playing on turf and dirt fields alike, this transition will be made easier with the renovation of the old softball facility into a full-size dirt and grass infield. This practice area will act mainly as a PFP (pitchers fielding practice) field for the pitching squad, but it will also allow the team to take a full infield on a grass surface when the team is faced with playing on a natural diamond away from “The Hog.”
 
“This upgrade will better prepare our players for the transition from turf to a dirt infield,” Price said.
 
Kansas baseball prides itself on giving its student-athletes a first-class experience during their time at KU, evident by the numerous facility upgrades during Price’s 13 years as head coach. The squad will continue its fall workouts for two more weeks, before heading into individual training sessions during the winter months.
 
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