Fresno State's 3,575-seat Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium is one of the premier college parks in the country. It has hosted eight NCAA Regionals since 1979 and is home to some college baseball's largest crowds.
The stadium is named after former Fresno State baseball coaches Pete Beiden, who guided the Bulldogs to 600 wins in 21 seasons from 1948-69, and Bob Bennett, the program's all-time winningest coach. Beiden was inducted into the College Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1972 and was honored with a 7-foot statue last season. The ballpark originally was called Varsity Park before being renamed in Beiden's honor in 1972. Bennett's name was added to the stadium in 2016.
The facility was built in 1966 and redesigned in 1983. It features 3,575 theatre-style seats, a press box, locker rooms, restrooms, concession stands, offices for the coaching staff, four batting cages and six mounds inside two bullpens.
The stadium was redesigned at a cost of $2.2 million, which was raised through the efforts of the DugOut Club and a community-wide fund drive. The scoreboard was possible through donations by American National Bank (now Wells Fargo Bank), Pepsi-Cola and Me-N-Ed's Parlors. Since the renovation, Fresno State has been among the nation's attendance leaders every year, including 1988 and 1989 when the Bulldogs led the country in attendance.
In 1998, Beiden Field was upgraded again. The project included the installation of a $300,000 state-of-the-art scoreboard/message center, a new public address system made possible by former Bulldogs and Major League pitchers Mark Gardner and Bobby Jones and the addition of 2,000 bleachers down both left and right field lines. The left field bleachers were removed in the 2004 season to make room for the construction of indoor batting cages and a team clubhouse.
The stadium structure is composed of cast-in-place and pre-cast concrete. Seating is in a horseshoe configuration, with four rows of box seats nearest the infield, a cross aisle behind, and 16 rows of standard seating elevated behind that. The stadium is equipped with a modern press box, which can seat more than 40 members of the media. Whether it is a trip to the concessions stand for a hot dog or a visit by the DugOut Club's display case, fans don't have to miss a minute of the action with speakers on the concourse airing the radio play-by-play.
The infield was replaced in 1999 and includes 200,000 square feet of natural grass, with rock dirt on the warning track. The dirt portion of the infield is composed of 60 percent cinder, 20 percent clay, and 20 percent surface.
In January 2000, groundskeepers Chuck Garcia, Doug Moritz, and Ed Zenteno were selected as the winners of the American Baseball Coaches Association/Turface Field Maintenance Award for the upkeep and maintenance of the playing surface. The annual award goes to the school exhibiting most outstanding field maintenance and care program.
Lights were installed at the facility in 1969 and new lighting was installed prior to the 1996 season. Stadium lighting includes 98 fixtures on eight towers generating 100-foot candles of light in the field and on average of 80 candles of light in the outfield.
The dimensions are 330 feet down the lines, 370 feet to the power alleys and 400 feet to center field.
Year-by-Year Record - Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium | |
Year | Record |
1966 | 16-7-1 |
1967 | N/A |
1968 | N/A |
1969 | 21-9 |
1970 | 15-6 |
1971 | 20-15 |
1972 | 19-15 |
1973 | 17-10 |
1974 | 18-8 |
1975 | 14-18 |
1976 | 13-14 |
1977 | 23-5 |
1978 | 22-7 |
1979 | 24-12 |
1980 | 25-2 |
1981 | 27-10 |
1982 | 37-3 |
1983 | 27-8 |
1984 | 35-4 |
1985 | 28-13 |
1986 | 25-16 |
1987 | 22-15 |
1988 | 44-4 |
1989 | 29-11 |
1990 | 31-12 |
1991 | 28-14 |
1992 | 28-11 |
1993 | 32-8 |
1994 | 24-11 |
1995 | 28-8 |
1996 | 23-8 |
1997 | 25-11 |
1998 | 23-14 |
1999 | 21-10 |
2000 | 21-10 |
2001 | 27-14 |
2002 | 20-13 |
2003 | 23-13 |
2004 | 21-16 |
2005 | 26-13 |
2006 | 34-7 |
2007 | 23-13 |
2008 | 23-10 |
2009 | 21-11 |
2010 | 18-17 |
2011 | 26-5 |
2012 | 18-16 |
2013 | 19-13 |
2014 | 20-10 |
2015 | 20-8 |
2016 | 26-7 |
2017 | 20-11 |
2018 | 23-13 |
2019 | 15-8-1 |
Totals | 1228-547-2 (.692) |
Largest Home Crowds | |
Year | Opponent (Attendance)... Score |
1988 | USC (5,673)...Fresno State 17-14, Fresno State 12-3 |
1988 | USC (5,455)...USC 18-17 |
1988 | Brigham Young (5,455)...Fresno State 9-4 |
1989 | Michigan (5,422)...Michigan 5-3 |
1989 | Notre Dame (5,406)...Fresno State 9-8 |
1988 | Minnesota (5,355)...Fresno State 10-8 |
1991 | Stanford (5,223)...Stanford 7-5 |
1995 | CS Fullerton (5,220)...CS Fullerton 7-3 |
1998 | Stanford (5,113)...Stanford 12-10 (11) |
1988 | Stanford (5,021)...Fresno State 6-5 |