Feb. 5, 2013
It's hard to believe, but it is just 10 days away from the opening of the University of San Diego's brand new baseball facility, Fowler Park and Cunningham Field. It seems like just yesterday when the shovels were stuck in the ground after a 40-win season for the Torero baseball team, and yet here we are just 10 days away from the start of the season.
Tickets for the upcoming 2013 USD baseball season are now available to the general public. Fowler Park and Cunningham Field, will open its gates for the first time with a three-game series against cross-town rival San Diego State University on February 15-17. Tickets for those games, as well as the rest of the season, are $10 for adults and $5 for a child. With 1,700 seat-back chairs throughout the seating bowl, with most seating sections only 14 rows deep, Torero fans will have great views to watch their 12th-ranked USD baseball team. In addition, parking is free for all USD home athletic events. To purchase tickets, click here.
There will be plenty going on with this monumental occasion, as the university will be holding a ribbon cutting ceremony prior to the gates being opened, as well as the dedication and blessing of the stadium. Ron Fowler will be on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch on Friday as well. Then on Saturday, the field itself will be dedicated in the name of USD's longtime baseball coach, John Cunningham. There will be a pregame ceremony for this as well, and John will be on hand to throw out the first pitch. Then on Sunday, USD will honor the military and youth baseball programs for the game.
The entire opening weekend series can be heard live on the air, as the Mighty 1090 has agreed to come and air the games live on 1700 AM. On Friday, Craig Elsten will call the play-by-play action and he will be joined by Coach John Kentera providing color commentary. On Saturday, it will again be Elsten on play-by-play, but the color analyst will be Ted Mendenhall. Then on Sunday, Jack Cronin, the voice of Torero football, will call the play-by-play action and joining him with color commentary will be Bobby Wooldridge.
TIDBITS ABOUT THE BALL PARK ITSELF...
Fowler Park is named in honor of the tremendous generosity of Ron and Alexis Fowler. The stadium will have 1,700 permanent seats and be expandable to over 3,000 in order to accommodate NCAA Regionals and Super Regionals
The field itself will be named in honor of our former coach, John Cunningham, who is still a major part of USD Athletics and is currently in his 51st year with the program. Fowler Park will be adding lights, a clubhouse, office space and suites to the venue. Cunningham field will be reconstructed and rotated so that the dimensions more closely resemble those at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, the host of the College World Series.
Populous, the architecture firm for Fowler Park, created a new Spanish Renaissance-style entry plaza that connects the ballpark with nearby campus architecture. Five levels were created to incorporate necessary programmatic elements - an entry level with plaza space, a suite and plaza level, the main concourse, the Torero Zone and the team clubhouse. The clubhouse will feature ample space for coaches and student-athletes, a training room, equipment room, player lounge, expanded locker rooms, a display and reception area and added space for batting cages. Additionally, Fowler Park will feature a new batter's eye in centerfield and added field lighting.
