Joe Miller Ballpark is a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

venue in

Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles (French: ''Lac Charles'') is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Founded in 1861 in Calcasieu ...

, United States. It is home to the

McNeese State Cowboys baseball The McNeese State Cowboys baseball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States. The team is a member of the Southland Conference, which is part of the National Collegiate A ...

team of the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division I

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it pa ...

. Opened in 1965, the venue has a capacity of 2,000 spectators. Its record attendance came one May 2, 2000, when 2,191 spectators saw McNeese State defeat

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

4–3 in 11 innings. The facility was renovated in 2005, 2007, and 2008. Not to be confused with Joe Miller Field, which is McNeese's softball venue.

Renovations

In 2005, a

Daktronics Daktronics is an American company based in Brookings, South Dakota that designs, manufactures, sells, and services video displays, scoreboards, digital billboards, dynamic message signs, sound systems, and related products. Founded in 1968 by ...

scoreboard with a message board was installed. In 2007, a new outfield fence was built after the old fence was destroyed by

Hurricane Rita Hurricane Rita was the most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Gulf of Mexico and the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. Part of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, which included three of the top ten L ...

. In 2008, new chairback seating (behind

home plate A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...

) and bleacher seating (along the first and third baselines) were installed. Additionally, the infield was laser-leveled and

wheelchair accessibility Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...

was improved with new ramps to the venue's seating areas. In 2014, the first part of a multi-phase upgrade began with installation of infield turf. According to the project announcement, "''...The new surface will make up the entire infield and foul territories and includes the batter's area and baselines. The only dirt on the field will be the pitcher's mound...''" Joseph T. Miller, Sr. presented the McNeese Foundation a check for $300,000 to help finance the infield turf project. Future planned upgrades announced include a new entrance court and ticket booths, elevated deck seating, VIP seating, and new fencing.

References

External links

Cowboy Diamond photo gallery
at mcneesesports.com {{Louisiana NCAA Division I college baseball venue navbox Baseball venues in Louisiana College baseball venues in the United States Buildings and structures in Lake Charles, Louisiana Sports venues completed in 1965 McNeese State Cowboys baseball Sports venues in Lake Charles, Louisiana 1965 establishments in Louisiana

Renovations

See also

References

External links