Texas Tech Announces Seating Addition to Rocky Johnson Field
November 08, 2011 | Softball
Texas Tech will add 504 seats to Rocky Johnson Field prior to the 2012 season.
Nov. 8, 2011
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LUBBOCK, Texas - The Texas Tech Athletics Department announced Tuesday the addition of over 500 seats to Rocky Johnson Field, pushing the softball facility's seating capacity to over 1,000 entering the 2012 season.
The project entails replacing the grass berms over the first and third base dugouts with 504 seats, moving official capacity to just below 1,100 with room still to add portable seating as well.
Construction on the facility will begin immediately in anticipation of the start of Tech's home schedule in early March as the project is already fully funded through private donations.
"This has been an improvement I've wanted since I arrived here," Tech head coach Shanon Hays said. "It will make Rocky Johnson Field completely ready to host postseason or other high level tournaments. Our fans have consistently packed the stadium throughout our two seasons, and we couldn't be more excited for construction to begin."
The Tech softball program has flourished under Hays, making consecutive NCAA Regional appearances in his first two seasons, a feat that had not been previously accomplished in school history. The Red Raiders have gone 80-34 during that span, boasting a .597 winning percentage that includes a 47-16 mark at home.
With the success on the field, Tech fans have filled "The Rock" with four of the five largest crowds in school history, including the facility record of 1,248 that watched the Red Raiders battle Missouri on March 27 last year.
In between the 2010 and 2011 seasons, Tech hosted a weeklong professional series featuring the Orlando and Chicago franchises that included a number of USA national players on both rosters. The series culminated in a Saturday evening game on the ESPN family of networks where more than 2,600 fans represented the largest crowd to ever attend a softball game on campus.
The Red Raiders begin their 2012 season Feb. 9-11 at the Arizona State Kajikawa Classic. A complete schedule will be released in the coming weeks.