NEW ORLEANS – It’s been nearly a decade since the new Greer Field at Turchin Stadium first opened its gates to Tulane baseball fans for the 2008 season, and along with the changes first-year head coach Travis Jewett has already brought to the program, fans will also notice some improvements to the baseball facility in the upcoming 2017 season.
On Monday, Nov. 28, a construction crew that specializes in artificial turf removal began the long process of pulling up the playing surface that Tulane has enjoyed for the last nine seasons.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am about the changes,” Jewett said. “The design and the color schemes we’re putting down are going to be impressive to the fans, and the field will play very well for the team. The construction crew is moving fast, so hopefully when we come back from winter break everything will be ready for us to get started preparing for our season in February.”
At the season opener against Army on Feb. 17, fans will notice several modifications made to the stadium. The main focus of this project will be the look of the new playing surface, which will feature green stripes of turf with a faint Angry Wave logo in center field. The Tulane baseball sluggerbird logo will be painted behind home plate.
In addition to modifications to the grass surface, both bull pens as well as the pitcher’s mound will be replaced with brown artificial turf, creating a 100% turf playing surface already present at a number of other Division I universities.
“From a weather standpoint, this allows us complete certainty when it comes to rainouts – I didn’t want the dirt mound to be the deciding factor of whether we played or not,” Jewett said. “The turf will also help with cleanliness because right now, the dirt from the mound bleeds into the turf infield and makes the ground very hard and discolored.”
Fans will also notice new green padding on the outfield walls, as well as an upgrade to the brick walls lining home plate and the on-deck circles.
The renovations are expected to wrap up in early January, just in time for preseason to practice to begin as Tulane baseball ushers in the start of the Travis Jewett Era.
“My coaching staff and I are very excited to be a part of this new era of Tulane baseball,” Jewett said. “We understand the tradition of greatness here, and we want to keep it moving forward. I think everybody will be proud of the new field.”
