Bailey-Brayton Field To Get New AstroTurf
PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State’s Bailey-Brayton Field, home of the Cougar Baseball program, will have a new playing surface for the 2018 season, WSU Director of Athletics Bill Moos announced Friday.
Bailey-Brayton Field will receive AstroTurf’s state-of-the-art Diamond Series playing surface, replacing the FieldTurf that was installed in 2004. The infield FieldTurf was replaced in 2013. Installation is underway and is scheduled to be completed later this month.
“The addition of the new AstroTurf will provide a first-class playing surface and is the initial step in our facility enhancement plan at Bailey-Brayton Field,” said Moos. “When the new surface is in place, we will turn our attention to finalizing a date to begin construction on the baseball clubhouse, which will provide our student-athletes and coaches one of the finest baseball facilities on the West Coast.”
“We are very excited that Bill Moos and WSU Athletics have made the decision to add new turf for the first phase of the renovations for our baseball program,” WSU Head Coach Marty Lees said. “Steve Webb of Coast to Coast Turf is overseeing the installation who is a former Coug who played on this field so we know we are in great hands! We are looking forward to playing on one of the country’s premiere playing surfaces at Bailey-Brayton Field.”
“We feel tremendous pride in being chosen as the artificial turf provider for Washington State’s baseball field,” said AstroTurf’s President, Troy Squires. “We look forward to seeing the Cougars compete on the Diamond Series.”
For this synthetic turf system, the infield “grass” portion of the field is comprised of a combination of advanced fibers that mimic the look, feel, and playability of natural grass. Base paths, warning tracks, and batter’s box all feature a proprietary fiber blend of shorter pile height that accurately emulates clay. All of the elements of the playing surface have been engineered for optimal ball bounce, ball roll, underfoot feel, and durability for the specific part of the baseball diamond in which they are installed. A special feature called the RootZone acts like a net to encapsulate the sand and rubber and to reduce its splash for more natural hops.
This AstroTurf is used at approximately 80 percent of all Division I synthetic baseball fields including The Ohio State, Vanderbilt, Michigan and Oklahoma.