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Eck Stadium is a baseball stadium in
Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...
, United States. It is located on the south side of 21st Street between Hillside and Oliver on the campus of
Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...
in northeast Wichita. The stadium is home of the
Wichita State Shockers baseball The Wichita State Shockers baseball team represents Wichita State University in the sport of baseball. The Wichita State Shockers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and in the American Athletic Confere ...
team. It has played host to the Shockers in rudimentary form since 1978, and as a complete stadium since 1985. Officially called Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field it is sometimes informally referred to as Eck. The stadium, which has gone through numerous upgrades since its original completion, currently seats 7,851. This number does not include the Coleman Outfield Hill which can seat hundreds more.


History

When
Gene Stephenson Gene Stephenson (born August 31, 1945) is an American retired college baseball coach, who served as the head baseball coach at Wichita State from 1978 to 2013. Career When he arrived at Wichita State, he inherited a program that had been dormant ...
revived the Shocker baseball program in 1978, the team played most of the season at the city-owned McAdams Field. With six games left in the season, the team moved to its first on-campus facility, Shocker Field. It was a bare-bones facility built on a former golf practice course, with little more than an AstroTurf field, a chain-link fence and a scoreboard. Limited seating was installed in 1979. The first semi-permanent seating was a 322-seat bleacher section installed in 1981. In 1985, building on the momentum from the Shockers advancing all the way to the national championship game in 1982, Wichita State built a permanent 3,044-seat stadium at a cost of $700,000. It was named Eck Stadium after Wichita car dealer Rusty Eck, an early supporter of the baseball program. The stadium's first major renovation came in 1988, with the addition of a new AstroTurf surface, a rubberized warning track and 292 box seats behind the plate. The playing surface was renamed Tyler Field after Ron and Linda Tyler, who funded most of the $425,000 project. A year later, the Shockers won the only team national title by a Shocker team in any sport to date. On Sept. 23, 1999, The Coleman Co. put a $500,000 exclamation point on Wichita State University's Project FutureShox, a $7.8 million effort to make Eck Stadium-Home of Tyler Field the premier collegiate baseball facility in the nation. Plans to significantly upgrade Eck Stadium were first announced on Jan. 28, 1998, and were taken to another level with the leadership of
Gene Stephenson Gene Stephenson (born August 31, 1945) is an American retired college baseball coach, who served as the head baseball coach at Wichita State from 1978 to 2013. Career When he arrived at Wichita State, he inherited a program that had been dormant ...
, the winningest collegiate baseball coach since 1978. Several major contributors stepped forward on the front end of the project, and on Sept. 23, The Coleman Co. accentuated a project that had Wichita State on its way to having the best collegiate baseball facility in the country. Before the start of the 2020 season, a new facility was constructed adjacent to the Bombardier Learjet Indoor Practice Facility. The new facility features a 2,500 square-foot weight room for both the baseball and softball teams, and a new Wichita State baseball locker room, athletic training room, laundry facility and meeting/video room. The new area also includes coaches offices, a professional-sized dugout for the Shockers, a pedestrian plaza and a new ticket office.


Seating sections


Virginia H. Farah All-American Club

The Virginia H. Farah All-American Club accommodates nearly 200 fans, and features reserved box seats for up to 96 fans on a veranda level immediately in front of the club. Membership in the Virginia H. Farah All-American Club includes an excellent view of the game from the climate-controlled interior, complimentary food and beverage each game, priority parking and club admission for two fans per membership.


Coleman Hill

The Coleman Hill includes two pavilions and terraces that spruce up the hill. The pavilions feature two covered, split-level, hardwood decks with storage for chairs. One pavilion includes a fireplace. The pavilions provide general seating for groups of fans and may be reserved for special events. Fans in the outfield bleachers at Eck Stadium-Home of Tyler Field are able to enjoy their baseball and picnics in style. The Coleman Co.'s half million-dollar gift to WSU enhances the Shockers' world-class collegiate baseball facilities. The improvements complement the grass seating areas that remain beyond the outfield fence, which include the addition of rock terracing.


Regular seating

The official
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 Eck Stadium is 7,851. This number counts the chairback seats behind home plate, as well as the chairback seats that line the right field line, and the metal grandstands that reside down the right field line as well. Blue "box seats" are closest to the action behind home plate. Followed by green and yellow seats higher up behind them, they are separated by stairs and a walkway.


Playing surface

Prior to the start of the 2020 season, Major Play artificial turf, a new, state-of-the-art playing surface, was installed by Austin, Texas, based Hellas Construction, the same company that manages artificial surfaces at AT&T Stadium, home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys, and NRG Stadium, home of the NFL's Houston Texans. In addition a new artificial pitching mound was installed, replacing the old, natural dirt mound, as well as a new outfield wall. The new surface replaced the old AstroTurf surface that had been at Eck Stadium since the 2010 season. Through the 2009 season, the infield consisted of field turf with dirt pockets surrounding each base, the pitchers mound, and home plate. The grass was real and stayed constantly green and long. Eck was known for its long outfield grass as batters struggled to get doubles, with the grass slowing down balls hit in the right or left field gaps. The dimensions are 335 feet down both left and right field lines and 390 to center. Winds often blow from right field to left aiding right-handed batters trying to hit home runs. Both bullpens are located down the foul lines on the respective 1st and 3rd baselines. The third base lines bullpen also contains batting cages WSU uses for practice.


See also

*
List of NCAA Division I baseball venues This is a list of stadiums that currently serve as the home venue for National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I college baseball teams. Conference affiliations reflect those in the coming 2023 NCAA baseball season. ...
; Sports facilities on WSU campus *
Cessna Stadium Cessna Stadium is a 24,000-seat stadium on the campus of Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It opened in 1946 and served as the home of the Wichita State Shockers track and field team until 2020 and the football team unti ...
(track) *
Charles Koch Arena Charles Koch Arena is a 10,506-seat multi-purpose arena in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is located on the southeast corner of 21st and Hillside on the campus of Wichita State University in northeast Wichita. The arena is home of the Wichi ...
(basketball and volleyball) ; Sports facilities in Wichita *
Lawrence–Dumont Stadium Lawrence–Dumont Stadium, previously known as Lawrence Stadium, was a baseball stadium in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It was located on the northwest corner of McLean Boulevard and Maple Street, along the west bank of the Arkansas River, in ...
(baseball, demolished 2018, downtown Wichita) *
Riverfront Stadium Riverfront Stadium, also known as Cinergy Field from 1996 to 2002, was a multi-purpose stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States that was the home of the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball from 1970 through 2002 and the Cincinnati Bengals o ...
(baseball, opened 2021, downtown Wichita)


External links


Eck Stadium at the WSU website
{{Kansas NCAA Division I college baseball venue navbox Sports venues in Kansas College baseball venues in the United States Wichita State Shockers baseball Sports venues in Wichita, Kansas Baseball venues in Kansas