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j.c. love FIELD patt patterson park
J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park was rounding out its 48th year of service when tragedy struck Ruston, Louisiana on April 25, 2019. An EF-3 tornado ripped through the town, leaving two dead and destroying several Lousiana Tech Athletic facilities, including “The Love Shack.” Over the years, the stadium saw the Bulldogs amass an impressive 843-460-1 (.647) home record, making “The Love Shack” one of the college baseball’s toughest venues for opposing teams. The stadium harbored one of the most loyal and raucous fanbases in the country, as evidenced by a record-setting number set recently in 2017, when 3,311 “packed The Shack” to watch the Bulldogs defeat ULLafayette 6-5 in 13 innings. The facility underwent several renovations in recent years with the newest additions including an allturf playing surface, which was installed in December 2015 just in time for the 2016 season, as well as a stateof-the-art locker room and players’ lounge for the Bulldogs underneath the stadium that was completed prior to the 2014 season. Additional renovations also include the re-painting of the outfield wall, brick walls built down the first and third base lines, a new ticket office, a laundry room and equipment room, as well as a refurbished training room. Mondo flooring, a non-slip and heavy resistant sports flooring made from natural/ synthetic vulcanized rubber, has also been installed throughout the facility. When Greg Goff became the seventh head coach in Tech history on June 6, 2014, he made it a priority to put his stamp on the historic stadium. Following Goff’s first season in Ruston, J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park has been transformed into a one-of-a-kind college baseball facility complete with an all-turf playing surface, which was installed by Geo-Surfaces, a professional engineering firm based out of Baton Rouge, in December 2015. The baseball turf covers approximately 140,000 square feet of J.C. Love Field and covers every part of the field with the exception of the pitchers’ mound which remains dirt. Thanks to the brand new turf installation, LA Tech joins
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1971-2019
the likes of the top baseball programs in the nation with turf playing surfaces including Indiana, Louisville, Texas and Vanderbilt, while the Bulldogs now call home to the only all-turf field in Conference USA. Prior to the 2015 campaign, Goff and his staff brought new signage into the locker room, removed the grass base paths in favor of dirt down the lines, and completed their grandest project to date, installing a turf halo with the primary LA Tech logo directly behind home plate. Goff and Co. also renovated offices on the visitor’s side of the stadium into permanent coaches’ offices in order to gain easier access to players. Since the opening of the facility in 1971, the outfield fence has been moved back as much as 20 feet in some places and has been raised. The dimensions of the field were (left-to-right) 315-370-385-340-325. Other renovations include a new paint job and a new warning track, while windscreens were added, as well as a visitors’ bullpen. In 2008, a brand-new scoreboard was installed beyond the right field wall and a smaller scoreboard display behind home plate for spectators watching from beyond the outfield fence. The smaller display faces the outfield and the University Park Apartments beyond the left field fence. Approximately 400 new chairback seats were also added to the existing 300 to give more options to Tech season ticket holders. A new press box was constructed in time for Tech to host the 2008 WAC Tournament for the first time in the school’s history. It features two radio booths, a television booth, ample seating for media members. On May 22, 2008, the facility was rededicated as J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park in honor of LA Tech coaching legend Pat “Gravy” Patterson. An outfield sign is dedicated to the former coach with his No. 27 jersey with the years he coached and his record in left-center field. His name is imprinted on the outside wall of the press box that faces Tech Drive and has been added to the top panel on the scoreboard. Centrally located on Louisiana Tech’s campus, the facility features a seating capacity of 2,000, many of which are chairback seats, and also boasts large
|2022 bulldog baseball RECORD BOOK|
picnic and viewing areas beyond the outfield wall that are popular with fans and the infamous “Right Field Rowdies.” Lights were installed prior to the 1978 season to allow the Bulldogs to play the majority of games at night, and in 1997, a school-record 3,251 fans packed the stadium and beyond the outfield to watch Tech play eventual national champion LSU. The facility, known as Tech Stadium until 1982, was named in honor of J.C. Love, a Ruston businessman who whole-heartedly supported the Bulldog Baseball program.
ALL-TIME RECORD 868-460-1 (.644)
TOP 10 LARGEST CROWDS Att. 3,311 3,251 3,154 3,125 3,076 2,536 2,375 2,220 2,138 2,095
Opponent UL-Lafayette LSU Arkansas LSU Arkansas UL-Monroe LSU Rice Arkansas UL-Lafayette
Year Result 2017 W, 6-5 (13) 1997 L, 1-13 2007 L, 2-4 1991 L, 6-13 2007 W, 9-2 2007 W, 3-2 1987 W, 5-4 2016 W, 4-3 (15) 2007 L, 2-6 2016 W, 6-2
MILESTONE WINS Win No. 1: 4 /26/71 vs. McNeese St. (1-0) Win No. 50: 3/30/74 vs. UT Arlington (8-4) Win No. 100: 4/29/77 vs. McNeese St. (7-6) Win No. 200: 4/13/82 vs. Northwestern St. (5-2) Win No. 300: 4/25/87 vs. ULM (9-1) Win No. 400: 4/2/92 vs. Ouachita Baptist (11-1) Win No. 500: 3/17/98 vs. Northwestern St. (8-2) Win No. 600: 3/31/06 vs. UAB (3-1) Win No. 700: 5/8/10 vs. Sacramento State (5-4) Win No. 800: 5/11/16 vs. Northwestern St. (5-4)
