New baseball facility will be ‘second to none’
Everywhere he has gone, University of Houston baseball coach Todd Whitting has collected a database of ideas of what he would like a baseball development center at UH to look like.
On Thursday, the university announced a namingrights deal to rename the baseball stadium from Cougar Field to Darryl and Lori Schroeder Park. A $4 million lead gift from the Houston couple will go directly toward the construction of a 20,000-square-foot baseball development center and clubhouse that Whitting, about to enter his sixth season as head coach, said will be a “game changer” and “second to none in Division I baseball.”
The announcement comes at a time when the Cougars are coming off the best two-year win total (91) in program history, an American Athletic Conference title and two NCAA Tournament appearances. It also allows UH to join what has become a facilities arms race in college baseball with many of the nation’s top programs making sizable investments in recent years.
Last piece of the puzzle
The two-story facility — to be located along left field — is the “final piece of the puzzle” to Whitting’s master plan of enhance- ments for the baseball program since he took over in 2010. During that time, the school has made $7.5 million in upgrades and new construction through private donations.
The most recent additions came this offseason with a new lighting system and a scoreboard in rightcenter field that is believed to be the largest in college baseball.
Kendall Rogers, who covers national college baseball, said the recent improvements and stronger financial commitment at UH are a “huge step in the right direction.”
“In today’s college baseball landscape, it’s incredibly important to modernize,” said Rogers, editor of D1Baseball.com. “These are things that distinguish elite programs.”
The UH project is still in the design phase, and the final pricetag has not been set. An official ceremony is scheduled for noon Saturday at UH’s Alumni Game and Fan Appreciation Day.
Whitting said the plan is to begin construction within four to six weeks and complete the project by September.
“This is something I’ve been thinking about and looking into since the day I got on campus,” Whitting said. “As I’ve gone to other ballparks and seen renovations and construction by other schools, I started putting together a database of what you like, what you don’t like.”
Whitting said the facility will have everything the program needs to entice potential recruits and have a “look and feel” similar to the Guy V. Lewis Basketball Development Center that opened on Cullen Boulevard in January.
Darryl Schroeder, who graduated from UH in the late 1960s, has noticed a change from “commuter school to Tier One” research university.
“It is the responsibility of every alumni to give back to our institution that helped make us a success in order for the University of Houston to continue its rise as a nationally recognized, Tier One powerhouse,” said Schroeder, chief executive officer of LoneStar Energy Fabricating. Lori Schroeder is the owner of the Bayou City Event Center.
Right match all around
Whitting has wanted to secure a naming-rights deal for 3,500-seat Cougar Field but had to find the right match, whether a corporate sponsor, individual or family.
It is not uncommon to have a ballpark named after a person or family. In the region, Texas Tech (Dan Law Field), Rice (Reckling Park), TCU (Lupton Stadium) and LSU (Alex Box Stadium) all have ballparks with private names.
“It was important to me that the name on the stadium really cares about the University of Houston and the baseball program,” Whitting said.