Jim Schlossnagle details Texas Baseball’s upcoming turf renovation
A new and improved playing surface is coming to the Disch next baseball season.
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When asked about the challenges of playing at a ballpark like Tennessee’s Lindsey Nelson Stadium, Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle shared information on potential changes coming to his own park.
“Everything that Lindsay Nelson Stadium is, our ballpark is not. Ours is bigger than theirs in terms of the fences, and theirs is way smaller. Their turf is faster than I remember. Ours is slower. However, I did meet with the turf company yesterday, so the new turf that we’re going to get next year is going to be somewhat similar to what’s going to be at Tennessee. We get a chance to test it out and see what we like and don’t like and see if there’s any adjustments we want to make,” Schlossnagle said.
Athletic Director Chris Del Conte said earlier this year that the park had no plans to move away from an artificial playing surface, but did not mention the team’s project of replacing the current turf.
But we were aware potential changes were coming, as records of a Playing Field Renovation date back to November of 2025, with a focus on the removal and reinstallation of new turf.
Schlossnagle claims the goal isn’t to play on a faster turf like Tennessee’s, it’s to even out the playing conditions at Texas’ own ballpark.
“I want it to be faster than what we currently have because our turf is tilted to the pitcher, slower, a bit uphill, because there’s still a crown on the field from Coach Gus days,” Schlossnagle said. “I just want our field to play as neutral as it can, and I wanted to mirror grass and dirt as best as possible. And so we’ve had a lot of conversations with the company that was chosen by the university to do the project. And so we’re going to get to kind of design it to that as best it possibly can be.”
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The ‘crown’ in Schlossnagle’s statement refers to a subtle bump in the middle of the field, usually kept for drainage purposes, that slopes downwards. The Disch is slightly elevated at the pitcher’s mound and slopes towards the foul lines. It’s not obvious on TV, but it has a real impact on the games and can be seen from higher up in the stands.
These crowns were popular before modern drainage techniques and underground systems that many modern parks have, and Texas has had this crown since coach Cliff Gustaffson, the head coach when Texas opened the Disch in 1975.
It’s clear that it affects gameplay, as Texas is known to have a slower turf than others, creates unusual bounces on bunts and slow rollers and is very pitcher-favored given the dimensions of the outfield and the uphill nature of the mound alongside the crown.
As a result, Texas is making changes that should roll in by the time next season comes around.
“It’ll be next winter, after fall practice,” Schlossnagle said. “We’ll take a couple months over basically Christmas break, as long as we’re not having big weather issues, it’ll be ready for preseason practices.”
Schlossnagle added that the crown will be taken off and the field will be flattened.
