Kentucky Proud Park 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 ...

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 either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

. It is the home field of the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

Wildcats college baseball team. Opened in 2018, with the Wildcats playing their first season in the stadium in 2019, it has a permanent capacity of 2,500, with grass berm seating adding more than 1,500 to the total capacity. Temporary seating can be added to bring the capacity to 7,000 for NCAA tournament games. The replacement for

Cliff Hagan Stadium Cliff Hagan Stadium (Officially named Shively Field at Cliff Hagan Stadium) is a baseball stadium located in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Cliff Hagan Stadium or better known to Kentucky Wildcat baseball fans as “The Cliff” is on the So ...

, the park received its name in a deal between JMI Sports, which holds the multimedia rights for UK sports and also markets the naming rights to all Wildcats venues, and the

Kentucky Farm Bureau Kentucky Farm Bureau (KFB) is a voluntary organization of families involved in land farming and their allies dedicated to serving as the voice of agriculture by identifying problems, developing solutions and taking actions, with the goal of impr ...

, an organization promoting the interests of Kentucky farmers which is best known by the non-farming public for its insurance business. The Farm Bureau chose to donate its naming rights to the

Kentucky Department of Agriculture Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, which uses "Kentucky Proud" as the brand for its marketing program for agricultural products made in the state. Kentucky opened up Kentucky Proud Park on February 26, 2019, with a 7–3 win over

Eastern Kentucky Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways * Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...

in front of 4,074 fans.

Kentucky Proud Park in Detail

The Kentucky Proud Park features a large entrance right being home plate and a left field entrance directly connected to the parking lot. There is also an interactive screen at the entrance that allows fans to touch to see the history of the team, the information about the stadium, the players who played in the major leagues, and design their own uniform with the Kentucky colors. The large concourse wraps around the entire field and is spacious with dealerships, bathrooms and other signs. Club and lounge areas are also available to fans. A small grass area in left field is accessible for kids to get entertained during the game. The Kentucky Proud Park include a big video board. Measured at 48 feet wide and 30 feet tall, the video board is the eight largest video board in all College Baseball.

First Reaction

A couple days before the 2019 opening season,

Nick Mingione Nick Mingione (born September 10, 1978) is a baseball coach and former outfielder, who is the current the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats. He played college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate lev ...

, head coach of the

Kentucky Wildcats Baseball The Kentucky Wildcats baseball team represents the University of Kentucky in NCAA Division I college baseball and competes in the Eastern division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The current head coach of the Wildcats is Nick Mingione. Ke ...

team, was interviewed concerning the new Kentucky Proud Park. “It really is just a special place,” was his original reaction. “I’m excited for the Big Blue Nation to experience it. I think they’re really going to fall in love with it,” Head Coach Mingione said. “The team has really fit in here,” “They’re comfortable here. T.J. Collett already hit the first Big Blue Bomb here. We won the first one... this is our true home. We’re excited to stay and finish the season strong here,” Mingione said on February 26, 2019, after a 7-3 win.

2016-2017 Season

The last time the Wildcats made a postseason run was in 2016. They ended up hosting a regional tournament in Lexington. The

saw its first postseason action since 2006. Nick Mingione led his troops to this postseason run in his first year. After beating

Ohio University Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

and

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

twice in Lexington during the regionals, the Wildcats moved on to the Super Regionals. They faced the Louisville Cardinals. The Wildcats saw their season end after two consecutive lost to Louisville who advanced to the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

Kentucky Wildcats' Record in Kentucky Proud Park in (2019-Present)

References

External links