Turf infield should help Beavers get on the field any time

By Brooks Hatch
Gazette-Times reporter

In a perfect world — or in a dry, imperfect one — Oregon State would never have considered ripping out the traditional infield that has graced Coleman Field/Goss Stadium for the past 100 years and replacing it with a synthetic surface.

“I like grass,” said OSU assistant coach Marty Lee, who tutors the infielders. “But for where we live, there are a lot more benefits to having a turf infield than a dirt-and-grass one.”

And so the reigning NCAA national-champion Beavers (14-3) will enter a new era at 4 p.m. Thursday when they play host to No. 25 Evansville in their 97th home opener. A new synthetic FieldTurf infield and new scoreboard in right field are the latest additions in an approximate $5 million upgrade to Goss Stadium that will continue in the near future with more permanent grandstand seating and other amenities.

The field was declared fit for action this week; the Beavers will practice on it for the first time this afternoon. They had Tuesday off after returning home from a Texas A&M tournament at 2:30 a.m. that morning.

FieldTurf is a synthetic surface composed of monofilament polyethylene blend fibers tufted into a polypropylene backing, with a mixture of silica sand and cryogenic rubber infill. Goss Stadium is OSU’s third such surface; it was installed in the Truax Indoor Center in 2002 and in Reser Stadium in 2005.

Practices at the Truax Center and games on FieldTurf at Washington State and Washington have given the Beavers a primer in the nuances of playing on the surface, so they won’t enter the Evansville series completely blind.

“The ball will be very much slower, especially with the turf being brand-new,” Lees said. “It will take a year for it to speed up a little bit, so you’ll see our middle infielders playing closer than normal, because when the ball hits (the surface) it slows up.

“You’ll get a truer hop. If you can pick it up, throw it across the diamond and hit a guy in the chest, the fielding will be much better. We fielded in the Truax Center all year, and we have some All-Americans in there because of the way the ball bounces.

“The biggest thing about fielding on FieldTurf is, you better be able to play catch. If you can’t, then you haven’t gained any advantage. It will be the same for both teams.

“We’ve usually fielded the ball, our errors have been throwing (in the recent past). I don’t think (having turf) will help both teams, or hurt both teams.”

Sophomore reliever Mark Grbavac said the new surface plays right into OSU’s hands because the team is built on pitching and defense.

“It’s going to help us a lot, no bad hops and it plays a little slower than a regular infield,” he said. “All the infielders are excited about it. It’s a lot easier for double plays, and it definitely will be a plus in this weather.”

Added associate head coach Dan Spencer, who manages the pitchers: “It will really help our sinker-ball guys, (junior starters) Joe Paterson and Daniel Turpen. They throw a lot of ground balls, so it will keep more of them in the infield.”

It will also virtually eliminate practice time lost to dragging the tarp on and off the infield during stretches of inclement weather. There are no sliding pits around the bases, as on some fields with synthetic surfaces; the pitcher’s mound and home plate are the only dirt areas.

“It may save more games, but It will really save us on practice days,” Spencer said.

February and March are the fourth- and fifth-rainiest months of the year in Corvallis; April and May rank sixth and seventh. So outdoor practice is often impossible and the team and maintenance crew spent an inordinate amount of time and energy pulling the protective tarp on and off the infield.

“(Previously) we would be on the field throwing bullpen between showers to get them outside on a dirt mound; (head coach Pat Casey) and Marty would be inside and we’d be phoning back and fourth, asking ‘Hey, does it look like you’ll get a break? Can we get the tarp off so we can hit? Can we get it off and get it out of the way enough to take some ground balls?’ ” Spencer said.

“But we couldn’t go live because we had to leave the tarp in right field because the next shower was coming in 40 minutes. We couldn’t get the tarp off long enough to work out between showers. We were just getting it off so the grass wouldn’t die.

“It’s unchartered waters for us, but we’re excited. We wouldn’t do it if we didn’t have the climate that called for it.”

Spencer said the FieldTurf should help the scheduling aspect of his job. OSU played 17 consecutive road games to open the 2007 season; next year, when new NCAA rules prohibit teams from playing games before Feb. 20, OSU has three home series in its first five weekends.

It allowed the Beavers to get Georgia to come to Corvallis and return a three-game series on Feb. 29-March 1-2, 2008.

“They’re not going to come 2,000 miles and then worry about pulling tarp,” Spencer said.

“We’ll only play one week on the road to start the season instead of five. Then we’ll have two series at home.”

The Beavers will play the Bulldogs and then Loyola Marymount on March 7-9. After playing in an Arizona tournament, OSU returns home again for a series with Pepperdine.

“That’s huge,” Spencer said. “It keeps us in school, keeps us fresher and keeps our wives happier. I think that’s great. It gives us more scheduling flexibility early.”