IU baseball takes to new field

In 1883, the IU baseball team played its first intercollegiate game. On Wednesday, against the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks, the No. 22 Hoosiers will play their first home game under the lights in the program’s 130-year history.

IU practiced on the new Bart Kaufman Field for the first time Monday. Senior shortstop Michael Basil said the first game at the new yard will be worth the wait.

“I think it’s awesome,” he said. “I can already tell how much better the atmosphere is to be at the game. This is really a big step for the program. I’m extremely excited to be able to play for it. That’s such a big deal, being able to have night games. That’s when the atmosphere is the best. You get a good crowd playing under the lights. It kind of has the big league feel to it a little bit more, like you’re playing on a higher stage.”

Two years ago, the second game of the Michigan State series was suspended due to darkness. Such suspensions are a thing of the past.

Kaufman and Andy Mohr fields are the results of the $19.8 million project approved by the IU Board of Trustees in August of 2011.

At this time last year, ground had not been broken on either venue. IU Coach Tracy Smith praised the workers who made Wednesday’s debut possible.

The stadium lights allow more flexibility on multiple fronts, he said.

“I think it’s a gorgeous yard,” the eighth-year head coach said. “Your game times, you can move back. Your kids don’t have to miss class as much.

The community can actually come out and watch baseball games now because they can go get their work day in and bring the family afterwards.

“Lights, from a competitive standpoint, are going to eliminate all the delays, all those concerns about trying to get it in.”

Unlike the 61-year-old Sembower Field, Kaufman Field is composed entirely of turf. Junior relief pitcher Brian Korte said he does not anticipate the surface requiring a big adjustment.

Basil agreed, citing the team’s offseason work in Mellencamp Pavilion.

“You get truer hops on turf than you do on dirt a lot of the time,” Basil said. “Kind of makes it easier as an infielder. I like it. There’s not a big adjustment that needs to be made.”

Kaufman Field is similar to the RedHawks’ home, McKie Field, because spectators can talk directly to pitchers warming up in the opponents’ bullpen down the first base line.

The Hoosiers won 6-3 in Oxford last season, and Korte pitched an inning and two-thirds in relief. He said the location of the bullpen played a negligible role.

“It’s not too bad,” he said. “It’s part of college baseball. We played at Georgia Southern, and the fans were ruthless. We played at Florida too — big, big crowds. Freshman year, it might have been a little trouble. As you get older, you get pretty used to it.”

He added he doesn’t expect fans’ accessibility to the opponents’ bullpen at Kaufman Field to provide a noteworthy advantage.

Smith said the fact that his former team debuts Kaufman Field is an accident.

“I wish I could give you a nice dramatic story,” he joked.

Basil, meanwhile, had a request for the community.

“Hopefully (Kaufman Field) brings a lot more fans, too.”