SIU baseball players will be the first in the nation to experience a new and improved kind of playing surface when the renovations to the stadium are complete.

Associate athletic director Andy Pettit said the turf is the first of its kind to be laid down in the world. Astroturf has a tendency to make players slide up to three times as far as they would on sand, but the new kind has more of an authentic feel to it. Players will know the difference between the “sand” area and the “grass” area just from the way it feels beneath their shoes.

“It’s a new generation of Astroturf,” Pettit said. “Just the visual impact is incredible, the field just grabs your eye.”

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The turf is also more weather-ready, allowing the team to play more of its games and make more of its practices even when it rains. Coach Ken Henderson said the team lost a lot of practice time because of poor drainage.

“We missed a lot of days during the course of a year because of weather and we couldn’t get on the field,” Henderson said. “The old field just didn’t drain well, so we are going to miss a lot less preparation days.”

Not only will the Salukis have turf to play on, but also have lights to play under. SIU is the last team in the conference to get lights. Henderson said the team can now prepare for night games.

Pettit also said lights would allow more games to be played despite rain delays because in some games at the old field, the weather would improve, but it would be too dark to complete the game.

The stadium obviously helps the baseball team’s image, but Henderson said it would be great for upcoming recruits noticing the excellent facilities getting put up.

“It already has provided a great needed help in recruiting,” Henderson said. “It’s opened some doors for us we have not gotten into before.”

Senior pitcher Tyler Dray said the field has so many improvements and can bring more fans and recruits. He said it is a huge step for SIU baseball.

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“The old field has been there since pretty much the team has been formed,” Dray said. “The new stadium will help bring some new fans, attract potential recruits later on, and hopefully bring bigger schools that want to come play here.”

With the new facilities comes a new identity for Saluki baseball, including a new name for the stadium.

Henderson said the field could also potentially help preparation of the players, and Dray said infielders would be able to make plays easier off of the turf.

“As a pitcher, there is not much it will do for me personally,” Dray said. “But, it will definitely help the infielders behind me make a lot more plays.”

The renovations also include the left field and right field fences being moved inward from 340 to 330 feet. Henderson said 340 was just too far, and was almost a professional dimension. He said the field still will not see many homeruns because of the wind direction, but they did want to make it a fairer park.

“We did not do that to increase the power numbers, we did it to make it a fair ballpark,” Henderson said.

Pettit said the field is now the best in the conference, and the stadium is a drastic improvement.

“We were by far the worst in the league,” Pettit said.

He said our stadium is now at least in the top third within the conference, and there is a possibility the team will eventually host a conference tournament.

“I know in terms of playing surface, there won’t be any better around,” Henderson said. “In terms of atmosphere and settings, we will be as good as anyone in the league.”

Originally the new clubhouse was going to be named Richard “Itchy” Jones clubhouse, but because of his popularity and success as a coach, the whole stadium will be known as Richard “Itchy” Jones stadium. The field itself will retain the Abe Martin field name, and the clubhouse will be named after former SIU baseball coach, Dan Callahan, who passed away in 2010.

Jones coached the team to a total of 10 National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament appearances and three College World Series appearances during his time.

SIU baseball’s first home game of the season will be Feb. 28 against the Northern Illinois University Huskies at 2 p.m.

A dedication ceremony has been set for March 13 before a three-game series against the University of Illinois Fighting Illini. Jones will throw out the first pitch and members of the Martin and Callahan families will throw out the first pitch at the following games that weekend.