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Dudy Noble Field, Polk-DeMent Stadium

Polk-DeMent Stadium
Dudy Noble from Right Field.jpg
Full name Dudy Noble Field at Polk–Dement Stadium
Location 145 Lakeview Drive, Starkville, MS, United States
Owner Mississippi State University
Operator Mississippi State University
Capacity 7,600 seats
Record attendance 15,586 (current NCAA on-campus record)
Field size LF: 330, LC: 376, CF: 390, RC: 374, RF: 326
Surface Tiflawn & Tifway II Bermuda Grass

Dudy Noble Field at Polk-Dement Stadium is a baseball facility on the campus of Mississippi State University and is the home of the Bulldogs Baseball Team. DNF-PDS has been the setting of Southeastern Conference Tournaments, NCAA Regional and Super Regional Championships, and it holds the current NCAA on-campus single-game attendance record at 15,586.

The field is named in honor of longtime MSU baseball coach, athletic director and ABCA Hall of Famer C.R. "Dudy" Noble. And on April 27, 1998 the facility was renamed Dudy Noble Field, Polk–DeMent Stadium, honoring another ABCA Hall of Famer, then-retired Bulldog skipper Ron Polk and the late Gordon DeMent, a successful businessman and longtime fan of the Baseball Bulldogs from Indianola, Mississippi.

Mississippi State has been playing baseball at the present stadium site for 40 years, dating back to April 3, 1967 and a 5-3 Mississippi State win over Illinois Wesleyan.

What today stands as one of college baseball's top facilities grew in large part from the labors of Tom D'Armi, chief assistant coach to longtime Bulldog skipper Paul Gregory. When the tin-roofed grandstand and bleachers seating more than 2,000 were moved to the stadium's present site in the mid-1960s, it became D'Armi's task to "build" the new field. The task of hauling in and leveling top soil, planting and nurturing the turf, building the bullpens, placing signs on the outfield fence and planting the cedar trees beyond the outfield fence, fell to D'Armi. The hard work didn't go unrecognized. The field was subsequently honored by the U.S. Groundskeeper's Association as the nation's best maintained athletic field.

In 1971, thanks to the generosity of the late E.B. "Dutch" McCool, a former MSU baseball player and one of the founding fathers of Holiday Inns, Inc., Mississippi State took the lead in the Southeastern Conference with the installation of a lighting system. The advent of night baseball in Starkville helped spur the growth and popularity of Bulldog baseball.

Later, the well-manicured turf was enhanced with the addition of a drainage and sprinkler system. Further additions to the baseball plant included an expanded scoreboard and animation-equipped message center, new batting ranges and the purchase of an infield tarp.

Mississippi State hosted its first SEC Baseball Tournament and NCAA Regional in 1979, setting attendance marks and opening eyes along the way.

The crowds mushroomed further in the 1980s as future Major League stars Jeff Brantley, Will Clark, Rafael Palmeiro and Bobby Thigpen helped the 1985 Bulldogs win the SEC championship, host and win another regional championship and earn MSU's second highest national finish, a tie for third place at the NCAA College World Series.


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