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Dudy Noble Field
The largest on-campus facility in college baseball, Dudy Noble Field will see the
58th season of Mississippi State baseball at its current site in 2024. With over 1,700
games played at the venue, the Diamond Dawgs have a .725 winning percentage at
the facility, which received a $68-million upgrade prior to the 2019 season.
The eld is named in honor of longtime MSU baseball coach, athletics director
and ABCA Hall of Famer Clarke Randolph “Dudy” Noble. On April 27, 1998 the facility
was renamed Dudy Noble Field, Polk-DeMent Stadium, honoring another ABCA Hall
of Famer, former Bulldog skipper Ron Polk, and the late Gordon DeMent, a successful
businessman and longtime fan of the Diamond Dawgs from Indianola, Mississippi.
From 1929 until 1964, Mississippi State hosted its baseball games at the
original on-campus venue, Hardy Field, which was located several hundred yards
to the south of the Bulldogs’ home football venue, Davis Wade Stadium at Scott
Field. The baseball eld was closed following the 1964 season to make way for
the construction of Dorman Hall and for the next two seasons the Diamond Dawgs
played their home games at Redbird Park in Columbus, Mississippi, capturing SEC
titles both seasons at their temporary home.
The tin-roofed grandstand and 2,000-seat bleachers from the original Dudy
Noble Field were transported to the stadium’s present site, which became playable
for the 1967 season. Since that time, facility enhancements have followed at a
steady pace to make the “Carnegie Hall of College Baseball” one of the nest all-
around facilities on the road to Omaha. Among with numerous upgrades, the
current site has seen two complete demolitions and reconstructions, the latest
occurring during a three-year span from 2017-2019 and opening prior to the start
of the 2019 campaign.
With a laundry list of legendary names on its all-time roster, it comes as no
surprise that Mississippi State ranks among the nation’s attendance leader’s year
in and year out. The Dudy Noble Field faithful have sold out the reserved seating
allotment every season since 1987.
Along with routinely hosting some of the largest crowds in the SEC, 11 of the
last 13 three-day Super Bulldog Weekend series have drawn more than 25,000 fans.
MSU eclipsed the 200,000 mark in paid attendance at Dudy Noble Field for
six-straight seasons between 2012-17, marking the rst such occurrence in the
program’s history. Over the past two seasons, MSU has eclipsed the 300,000 mark
in paid attendance, which had never been done before in back-to-back seasons.
In 2013, the Diamond Dawgs’ ve-millionth fan walked through the turnstiles at
Dudy Noble Field. Since home attendance gures were charted starting in 1976, the
“Carnegie Hall of College Baseball” has seen 7,616,815 fans rush through the gates.
In 23 of the last 24 seasons, Mississippi State has averaged 6,000 fans per game,
including a record average of 11,094 during the 2023 campaign, the second-best
mark in the nation. Overall, State has eclipsed the 200,000-fan mark 15 times since
2002, with a school-record 373,784 viewing the 2019 home schedule.
Of the top 25 all-time college baseball on-campus attendances, Dudy Noble
Field nds itself on the list 23 times, most notably owning the all-time on-campus
attendance record of 16,423 on April 15, 2023. The Bulldogs own 14 of the top 15
marks and 19 of the top 20 marks, in NCAA on-campus history and are the only
NCAA baseball program to boast on-campus attendances of 14,000 or more. The ve
largest NCAA Super Regional crowds have all assembled in Starkville, Mississippi,
as well.
From April 14-16, 2023, the Bulldog faithful ooded the gates at Dudy Noble
Field to the tune or 43,986 fans for a three-game series versus Ole Miss. The nearly
44,000 fans on the weekend set an NCAA on-campus attendance record for a three-
game series.
Dudy Noble Field has ushered in crowds of 10,000 or better 111 times,
including 2007 NCAA Super Regional-record draws of 13,715 and 12,620 for
nationally-televised, late-morning games against Clemson. In 2019, the rst
season of the “New Dude,” the Diamond Dawgs garnered crowds of 10,000-plus
a school-record 10 times.
Mississippi State has hosted 26 postseason events at the facility, including
three NCAA District III Tournaments (1973-75), ve SEC tournaments (1979, 81,
83, 88 & 95), 16 NCAA Regionals (1979, 84-85, 87-89, 90, 92, 97, 2000, 03, 13, 16,
19 & 21 ) and four NCAA Super Regionals (2007, 16, 19 & 21).
™
The aura of Mississippi State baseball at Dudy Noble Field is certainly not
conned to the loyal legions in the impressive grandstand, pro-style luxury sky
suites or luxurious Left Field Lofts.
In fact, some of the more highly-prized seats at Bulldog baseball games are
found beyond the outeld fence in the Left Field Lounge™. Waiting lists greet those
seeking to purchase one of the 96 outeld lounges in the iconic two-level outeld
tailgate.
Once a colorful assortment of pickup trucks, motor homes, and trailers — most
equipped with barbecue grills — lined the outeld fence, completing a circle of
humanity at Dudy Noble Field. Now, the permanent lounge spaces are connected
to the concourse, allowing everyone to stroll through and experience the iconic
lounge culture.
What began in the late 1960s as a popular gathering spot for baseball-loving
MSU supporters now forms college baseball’s largest tailgate party.
The second demolition at the current site occurred following the 2017 season
and the $68 million facility opened its gates for the 2019 campaign. Architect Wier
Boerner Allin, along with consultants Populous and famed stadium architect/State
alum Janet Marie Smith designed the project, while construction manager ICM and
general contractor JESCO Construction, Inc. oversaw the construction.
Covering 12 acres of land on the Mississippi State University campus, the
230,000 square foot facility carries on Dudy Noble Field’s legacy as the “Carnegie
Hall of College Baseball.” Installation of the second largest scoreboard in college
baseball, measuring 43 feet wide by 60 feet high, started the project in 2017. The
board, which was the largest in college baseball upon instillation, is larger than
boards owned by three Major League Baseball teams. The addition of 96 permanent
Left Field Lounge rigs encircling the outeld followed during the fall of 2018.
The concourse and lower-level grandstands were in place for the 2018
season, with the Diamond Suites, upper-deck reserved seating area and three
unique club areas – Farm Bureau Triple Crown Club, Charlie and Dana Stephenson
Omaha Club and The Rooftop Club –were completed prior to the 2019 campaign.
The newest version of Dudy Noble Field also features increased restroom facilities
and concession points of sale.
The player spaces also received an upgrade, expanding to cover 18,000
square feet underneath the facility. The fully-equipped Bruce and Julie Martin
Locker Room includes an embedded equipment room, houses 40 wooden lockers
and features an oversized, dimensional halo-lit ’85 Script Mississippi State sign
suspended overhead in the middle of the room.
The more spacious locker room includes an attached training room with
whirlpool and fully-functional fueling station. The Mitch Moreland Hitting
Tunnel, which is equipped with HitTrax, and Turner & Gloria Wingo Team Lounge
are easily accessed from the home dugout, with the eye-popping player entrance
and Hassell H. Franklin Omaha Room greeting players as they enter the facility.
The Pat McMahon Pitching Lab is also housed under the stadium, featuring
arm care and conditioning equipment, one oversized turfed mound with three
pitching rubbers and state of the art video equipment.
1. 16,423 * Ole Miss April 15, 2023
2. 15,586 Ole Miss April 12, 2014
3. 15,078 Texas A&M April 16, 2016
4. 14,991 Florida April 22, 1989
5. 14,739 Ole Miss April 14, 2023
6. 14,562 Auburn April 20, 2013
7. 14,385 # Notre Dame June 12, 2021
8. 14,378 LSU April 16, 1988
9. 14,320 Arizona State Feb. 25, 2023
10. 14,228 LSU April 9, 2022
11. 14,077 Alabama March 26, 2022
12. 13,971 # Notre Dame June 13, 2021
13. 13,761 Arkansas April 25, 1992
14. 13,715 ^ Clemson June 9, 2007
15. 13,691 Kentucky April 8, 2017
16. 13,617 Georgia April 8, 2006
17. 13,452 ^ Arizona June 11, 2016
18. 13,351 Long Beach State Feb. 19, 2022
19. 13,338 Ole Miss April 17, 2021
20. 13,224 Ole Miss April 11, 2014
21. 13,132 ^ Stanford June 8, 2019
22. 13,123 Ole Miss April 15, 2000
23. 13,004 Florida April 18, 2015
24. 12,927 Vanderbilt March 25, 2023
25. 12,913 ^ Arizona June 10, 2016
* - NCAA on-campus attendance record
^ - NCAA Regional
# - NCAA Super Regional
Mississippi State owns 103 crowds of 10,000-plus in the history
of the program. The top 10 crowds in Dudy Noble Field history are also
the top 10 on-campus crowds in NCAA history.
BIOGRAPHY TOP-25 CROWDS