Oregon State To Get FieldTurf Baseball Infield For 2007

While FieldTurf is widely known for its outstanding football surfaces, the company’s baseball business is also booming.

The look of OSU's new baseball infield for 2007. Photo: OSU Athletics

CORVALLIS - Oregon State, the 2006 NCAA baseball national champion, will install a FieldTurf surface on the infield at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field in time for the 2007 season.

The announcement that FieldTurf will be installed at OSU was made jointly by FieldTurf CEO John Gilman and Beavers Director of Athletics Bob De Carolis.

Completion of the project is scheduled for Feb. 1st, and the Beavers will play their first home game on their new FieldTurf surface on March 8th against Evansville.

This is the third FieldTurf installation at Oregon State; the school already has FieldTurf at football’s Reser Stadium and in the Merritt Truax Indoor Center.

“Having FieldTurf on our infield will open up a lot of options for us in terms of when we can practice, how we can practice and how we can schedule games on our home field,” OSU head coach Pat Casey said.

“It creates a lot of possibilities that we might not have had before, and those are things that are going to help keep our program competitive on a national level in the future.”

“We are obviously quite pleased to expand our relationship with Oregon State,” Gilman said. “We have had a wonderful relationship with the Beavers’ athletic department and with Bob De Carolis, and we value the trust that they have shown in our product.

FieldTurf continues to be the top turf product in the world, and we’re delighted to now be associated with the top college baseball program in the United States.

There’s no doubt that Coach (Pat) Casey and his players will enjoy their new FieldTurf as they begin defense of their national championship.”

This will be the first artificial surface at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field, which has been the Beavers’ home since varsity baseball began at the school in 1907.

The 2,300-seat facility received a major remodeling in 1999 and lights were installed in 2002 to allow for night baseball.

In addition to the colleges and minor league teams that utilize for baseball, Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays also make FieldTurf their choice for their stadiums.

FieldTurf is the result of years of research - evident in the patented FieldTurf infill mix of silica sand and cryogenic rubber and patented layering process that deliver a system that emulates natural grass.

Additional benefits are found in improved player safety, reduced maintenance costs and flexibility for conversion - allowing stadium managers to quickly change the field from one sport to another or to easily host a variety of sporting events, concerts and other special events directly on top of the FieldTurf surface.

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