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Dudy Noble Field at Polk-Dement Stadium is a baseball park on the campus of Mississippi State University, just outside the city limits of Starkville, Mississippi, which serves as the home venue of the Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team. DNF-PDS has been the setting of Southeastern Conference tournaments and NCAA Regional and Super Regional Championships, and it holds the current NCAA baseball on-campus single-game attendance record at 16,423. It is known for the Left Field Lounge.
"The Dude" "Carnegie Hall of College Baseball" | |
 | |
  Polk-DeMent Stadium Location in Mississippi  Polk-DeMent Stadium Location in the United States | |
| Full name | Dudy Noble Field at Polk–Dement Stadium |
|---|---|
| Former names | Dudy Noble Field (1967–1998) |
| Address | 145 Lakeview Drive |
| Location | Mississippi State, MS, United States |
| Coordinates | 33°27′46″N 88°47′40″W / 33.4628°N 88.7944°W |
| Type | Stadium |
| Genre(s) | Baseball |
| Executive suites | 3 |
| Capacity | 7,200 seats, 15,000 standing [1] |
| Record attendance | 16,423 (current NCAA on-campus record) April 15, 2023, vs Ole Miss |
| Field size | LF: 330 ft (100.6 m) LC: 376 ft (114.6 m) CF: 390 ft (118.9 m) RC: 374 ft (114.0 m) RF: 305 ft (93.0 m) |
| Acreage | 12 |
| Surface | Tiflawn & Tifway II Bermuda Grass |
| Scoreboard | 43 feet wide by 60 feet high |
| Construction | |
| Opened | April 3, 1967 |
| Renovated | 1987, 2018 |
| Demolished | 2017 |
| Architect | Wier Boerner Allin Populous Janet Marie Smith |
| Project manager | ICM |
| General contractor | W.G. Yates & Sons (original) JESCO Construction, Inc. (current) |
| Tenants | |
| Mississippi State Bulldogs (1967–Present) | |
| Website | |
| spark | |
History
editMississippi State has been playing baseball at the present stadium site for 50 years, dating back to April 3, 1967, and a 5–3 Mississippi State win over Illinois Wesleyan.
What today stands as one of college baseball's top facilities grew in large part from the labors of Tom D'Armi, chief assistant coach to longtime Bulldog skipper Paul Gregory. When the tin-roofed grandstand and bleachers seating more than 2,000 were moved to the stadium's present site in the mid-1960s, it became D'Armi's task to "build" the new field. The task of hauling in and leveling top soil, planting and nurturing the turf, building the bullpens, placing signs on the outfield fence and planting the cedar trees beyond the outfield fence, fell to D'Armi. The hard work didn't go unrecognized. The field was subsequently honored by the U.S. Groundskeeper's Association as the nation's best maintained athletic field.
The facility was constructed on schedule by W.G. Yates & Sons of Philadelphia, Miss.
The Bulldog Club, MSU's athletic fund-raising body, shouldered a $2 million bonding program to account for the biggest portion of the project, with the remainder financed by alumni and friends through the sale of $1,000, $500 and $250 chairback seats, honorary deeds to plots of Dudy Noble Field turf, and other general donations.
For the book Inside Dudy Noble, A Celebration of Mississippi State Baseball, MSU alumnus John Grisham wrote an introduction[2] about his time at MSU and in the Left Field Lounge.
The infield and portions of the adjoining outfield areas have in recent years been resodded, the infield dirt replaced, and the pitcher's mound rebuilt.
The green padding on the facing of the stadium wall was replaced prior to the 2002 season, and a new flooring material has been installed in both dugouts and the tunnels leading to them. The Bulldog locker room has been completely recarpeted, improved lighting added and new lockers installed, one of many projects funded by the four-year-old MSU Dugout Club.
Early in the 2004 season a speaker system was added near the concession stand area, while a new state-of-the-art scoreboard/message center was installed in the middle of the season beyond the existing scoreboard.
Also begun during the final week of the 2004 home season was the installation of wrought iron fencing and gates beneath the grandstand.
Additional stadium improvements are on the drawing board, all part of Mississippi State's commitment to maintain Dudy Noble Field, Polk–DeMent Stadium as the consummate collegiate ballpark for players and spectators alike.
In 2007 Dudy Noble held the largest crowd in super regional history of 13,715 in a victory over the Clemson Tigers that sent the Bulldogs to the College World Series in Omaha, NE.
Following the 2008 Season, a new larger Hi-Def video board replaced the 4-year old smaller screen along with a covering for the back of the scoreboard which displays the current year's baseball schedule. Planned renovations for the summer of 2009 include replacing all the out-dated drainage and pump systems below the field and all grass on the field.
In March 2013, Dudy Noble debuted a new mobile concessions ordering service — dawgsnax.com — with in-seat food delivery for fans in the grandstand seating area.[3]
In 2017, Dudy Noble was mostly leveled to make way for an all-new Dudy Noble Field, which was completed for the 2019 season.
The Left Field Lounge
edit
The Left Field Lounge is the area beyond the outfield fence. It is unique in college baseball, and has enabled the grounds to be named the "#1 place to watch college baseball" and among the "100 things you gotta do before you graduate" by Sports Illustrated.[4] In 2009 the lounge was named "the country's best tailgating experience" (among all sports venues) by ESPN Magazine.[5]
Championships
editDudy Noble Field has hosted four SEC tournaments (1979, 1981, 1983, and 1988), one SEC Western Division Tournament (1995), three NCAA District III tournaments (1973-75), 15 NCAA Regional tournaments (1979, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2021), and 4 Super Regionals (2007, 2016, 2019 and 2021.)
Attendance
editSEC and Super Regional weekend games typically draw the largest crowds, giving rise to huge weekend gatherings. Mississippi State currently holds the NCAA record for the largest single game on-campus baseball attendance at 16,423 in a game against SEC rival Ole Miss. In 2021 versus Notre Dame, MSU had the NCAA's top all-time highest attended Super Regional game with 14,385 fans. This 2021 Super Regional also had attendance of 13,971 and 11,754 in the other two games for an NCAA record attendance for a super regional series of 40,140. On April 14–16, 2023, Mississippi State fans set the on-campus record for most-attended 3-game series by packing 43,986 fans into the Dude over the course of three games against arch rival Ole Miss, a series they won 2-1. [6][7]
Mississippi State has all 15 of the top 15 on-campus crowds in the history of college baseball, and 24 of the top 25. Overall, DNF-PDS has held 22 crowds over 12,000 and 58 crowds over 10,000.
In 2012, college baseball writer Eric Sorenson ranked the stadium as the best big game atmosphere in Division I baseball.[8]
Top baseball crowds at DNF-PDS
edit| Rank | Attendance | Opponent | Date | Record broken |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16,423 | Ole Miss | April 15, 2023 | NCAA on-campus record |
| 2 | 15,586 | Ole Miss | April 12, 2014 | #2 NCAA on-campus record |
| 3 | 15,078 | Texas A&M | April 16, 2016 | #3 NCAA on-campus record |
| 4 | 14,991 | Florida | April 22, 1989 | #4 NCAA on-campus record |
| 5 | 14,739 | Ole Miss | April 14, 2023 | #5 NCAA on-campus record |
| 6 | 14,562 | Auburn | April 20, 2013 | #6 NCAA on-campus record |
| 7 | 14,385 | Notre Dame | June 12, 2021 | #7 NCAA on-campus record NCAA Super Regional single-game record |
| 8 | 14,378 | LSU | April 16, 1988 | #8 NCAA on-campus record |
| 9 | 14,320 | Arizona State | February 25, 2023 | #9 NCAA on-campus record |
| 10 | 14,273 | Alabama | May 4, 2024 | #10 NCAA on-campus record |
| 11 | 14,077 | Alabama | March 26, 2022 | #11 NCAA on-campus record |
| 12 | 13,974 | LSU | March 16, 2024 | #12 NCAA on-campus record |
| 13 | 13,971 | Notre Dame | June 13, 2021 | #13 on-campus record #2 NCAA Super Regional single-game record |
| 14 | 13,761 | Arkansas | April 25, 1992 | #14 NCAA on-campus record |
| 15 | 13,715 | Clemson | June 9, 2007 | #15 NCAA on-campus record #3 NCAA Super Regional single-game record |
| 16 | 13,691 | Kentucky | April 8, 2017 | #16 NCAA on-campus record |
| 17 | 13,617 | Georgia | April 8, 2006 | #17 NCAA on-campus record |
| 18 | 13,477 | Georgia | April 6, 2024 | #18 NCAA on-campus record |
| 19 | 13,452 | Arizona | June 11, 2016 | #20 NCAA on-campus record #4 NCAA Super Regional single-game record |
| 20 | 13,351 | Long Beach State | February 18, 2022 | #21 NCAA on-campus record |
| 21 | 13,338 | Ole Miss | April 17, 2021 | #22 NCAA on-campus record First home series after lifting of COVID-19 restrictions |
| 22 | 13,224 | Ole Miss | April 11, 2014 | #23 NCAA on-campus record |
| 23 | 13,132 | Stanford | June 8, 2019 | #24 NCAA on-campus record #5 NCAA Super Regional single-game record |
| 24 | 13,123 | Ole Miss | April 15, 2000 | #25 NCAA on-campus record |
| 25 | 13,004 | Florida | April 18, 2005 | #27 NCAA on-campus record |
| 26 | 12,913 | Arizona | June 10, 2016 | #28 NCAA on-campus record #6 NCAA Super Regional single-game record |
| 27 | 12,708 | Auburn | April 24, 1993 | #29 NCAA on-campus record |
| 28 | 12,620 | Clemson | June 8, 2007 | #30 NCAA on-campus record #7 NCAA Super Regional single-game record |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Facilities - Dudy Noble Field, Polk-DeMent Stadium".
- ^ "Take Me Out to the Ballpark". Mississippi State University University Libraries. Mississippi State University. Archived from the original on December 31, 2019. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
- ^ "No. 3 Bulldogs Wrap up Homestand Hosting 12-1 UCA Bears - Mississippi State University Bulldogs Official Athletic Site - HailState.com". Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
- ^ "SI.com - SI on Campus - SI on Campus: 100 Things You Gotta do Before You Graduate - Thursday September 25, 2003 12:39PM". Archived from the original on June 4, 2007. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
- ^ http://www.zinio.com/express3?issue=365161852&o=int&prev=si&pg=seo&p=61 [dead link]
- ^ Hansen, Eric (June 14, 2021). "Notre Dame's anger management has Irish on the brink of College World Series berth". ND Insider. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
- ^ "Bulldogs knock off Notre Dame, get back to College World Series". The Vicksburg Post. June 15, 2021. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
- ^ Sorenson, Eric (October 5, 2012). "Distiller's Dozen - The "Hey, Nice Stadium" Edition". CollegeBaseballToday.com. Archived from the original on November 29, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
External links
edit- Dudy Noble Field/Polk-DeMent Stadium seating chart Archived March 18, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
- Campus Map: Dudy Noble Field / Polk-Dement Stadium
- Photo Gallery: Dudy Noble Field/Polk-DeMent Stadium 7/20/2010
- Virtual Visit: Dudy Noble Field
- Dudy Noble Field: The Venue
- LeftFieldLounge.com
- Left Field Lounge Tradition
- Left Field Lounge represents the best of MSU