Goss Stadium at Coleman Field

Goss Stadium in May 2009
(home plate area still dirt)

Goss Stadium in May 2009

Goss Stadium at Coleman Field is a college baseball stadium in Corvallis, Oregon, on the campus of Oregon State University. It is home to the Oregon State Beavers of the Pac-12 conference. At the end of the 2014 season, Oregon State had posted an all-time record of 1,134–474–1 (.705) record at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field.

History

The field was established in 1907, with the first game being played on April 12, 1907. The field was later named "Ralph Coleman Field," after long-time Beavers baseball coach Ralph Coleman, who stepped down following the 1966 season after 35 seasons as the teams head coach.

The Scott Halbrook Memorial Scoreboard was added to Ralph Coleman Field in 1986 in memory of the 1981 freshman outfielder, who died in a freak accident just three days prior to his first season with the Beavers. The scoreboard remained in use until its replacement in 2006.

In the late fall of 1998, after many years of talks regarding upgrading the bleachers, concession stands, and the press box, a major remodel was undertaken thanks in large part to a $2.3 million donation by John and Eline Goss. Completed before the start of the 1999 season, the addition of the all new stadium put to rest the idea that the Beavers may not be able to continue to play at their longtime home. With the field right in the middle of campus, there had been discussion of the land being turned over to academic uses. The first official game at Goss Stadium at Coleman field was played March 12, 1999.^[1]

Lights were added to the stadium in 2002, allowing the Beavers to play their first night game at home on April 27, a 4–1 victory over the 4th ranked Stanford Cardinals.

In the summer of 2006, after the Beavers' first national championship win, a state-of-the-art scoreboard was installed, replacing the Scott Halbrook Memorial Scoreboard. This scoreboard feature the first video replay screen in the conference. The natural grass (and dirt) infield was replaced with FieldTurf in late 2006, in time for the 2007 season.^[1] The pitcher's mound and home plate area were the only portions that remained dirt.^[3] The basepaths and "skin" portion are FieldTurf, colored dark orange. The home plate area at Goss Stadium was later covered with FieldTurf, leaving only the pitcher's mound with dirt.

In May 2008, the Goss Stadium expansion project which consisted of extending the stadium down the 1st and 3rd baselines, was completed. This expansion raised the capacity from 2,000 to 3,248 spectators. The Omaha Room, a suite overlooking the field along the first base line, was built during the expansion project. An academic center as well as the Oregon State Baseball Hall of Fame area celebrating its rich baseball history were also added and are housed underneath the Omaha Room suite.

In the winter of 2015, new FieldTurf was installed that covered the entire field, from the backstop to the outfield fence, removing the last remaining natural turf from Coleman Field. The only natural surface remaining was the dirt pitchers mound.

The official stadium capacity is currently at 3,248. In the 2013 season, home games averaged 2,676 fans per game (24th best among Division I baseball programs) as the Beavers tied an all-time season best 27-5 record at home.^[4]

The facility has hosted 7 NCAA Regional Tournaments (1952, 1963, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2013, 2014), as well as 4 NCAA Super-Regional Tournaments (2005, 2006, 2007, 2013). As of 2015, Oregon State has posted an impressive mark of 25–8 in postseason games at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field.^[5]

Prior to the start of the 2016 season, the existing scoreboard was removed to accommodate the upgrade which will replace all existing scoreboard elements with one large LED videoboard that is projected to be twice as large from its predecessor.^[6]

Facility

Opened over a century ago, Coleman Field is located near the center of campus and is the oldest continuous ballpark in the nation.^[1][7]

The playing field is oriented in an unorthodox configuration, with the batter and catcher facing southeast, resulting in difficult visual conditions for the fielders on the left side of the diamond for games played near sunset. (The recommended orientation of a baseball diamond is east-northeast.)^[8]

Since 2007, the stadium is the home field of the Corvallis Knights of the West Coast League, a collegiate summer league.

In 2014, former Oregon State center fielder and MLB All-Star, Jacoby Ellsbury, donated $1 million as part of a $3 million renovation project.^[2][9] Construction was completed in February 2015 adding a beer garden standing deck for fans above a new home team locker room.^[10]

See also

• List of NCAA Division I baseball venues

View of the stadium (still under construction)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Goss Stadium at Coleman Field.

• Official website
• Corvallis Knights: Goss Stadium at Corvallis Field
• Google Maps - Aerial View - Before 2008 Expansion
• Aerial view: 1994