Seton Hill has one of the top NCAA Division II baseball programs in the country.
Manager Marc Marizzaldi said a $700,000 refurbishing of the baseball facility will make it the best in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
Construction is ongoing to update the on-campus field. A new turf (Pro Grass) will replace the original turf that was installed in 2006, along with a new 2-foot-high backstop wall and 25 chair-back seats behind the wall that give spectators a ground-level view of the field.
Other improvements include new dugouts, a new fence (16 feet high in left field), turf in the hitting cages and bullpen areas and the building of a press box.
“This is a long-overdue project,” Seton Hill executive director of athletics Chris Snyder said about the second phase of the project. “This will help out the program tremendously, and with the growth of our intramural programs and the university, it provides our students a quality facility.”
Phase one, a new football practice field and softball field, was completed in 2016.
The previous baseball facility also was used by other athletic teams at the university and had lines for soccer, lacrosse and field hockey.
There will be no lines other than foul lines on the new baseball facility.
The baseball has been the most successful program at the university. Since Marizzaldi (496-262) took over, the Griffins have had only one losing season — and that was his first year of the program in 2004.
Seton Hill played in the NAIA World Series in 2006, and, since joining the NCAA, has won or shared conference or division titles in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference or PSAC eight times.
The Griffins played in the NCAA Division II World Series in 2014 and have qualified for the NCAA Tournament eight consecutive years.
“The new facility should help in recruiting,” Marizzaldi said. “It will be the best in the conference and do a lot for the school when we hold camps and tournaments. It will bring a lot of people to our campus.”
Marizzaldi said with the additional parking for the new science building, spectators will have great views for the games. He said spectators will be spread out.
“The field will become more uniforme, 330 down the lines and 390 to center field,” Marizzaldi said. “Because so many home runs are hit to left field, we're installing a 16-foot high fence. In all my years, I can stay I've seen only about six balls leave the field to right but 100 to left. The ball travels better to left.”
The old dimensions were 325 to left and 350 to right.
Snyder said there are no immediate plans to add lights to any of the athletic fields or build an on-campus football stadium or track facility.
The football uses Offutt Field in Greensburg, and the track team, which produced the school's first national champion and numerous All-Americans, are forced to use different high school facilities for practice.
Paul Schofield is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at pschofield@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Schofield_Trib.
