J.C. Love Field at Patterson Park

J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park was rounding out its 48th year of service when tragedy struck Ruston on April 25, 2019. An EF-3 tornado ripped through the city, destroying several Louisiana Tech Athletic facilities, including “The Love Shack.”

On Nov. 21 of that year, University officials presented a ray of sunlight in releasing the renderings and plans for the complete rebuild of the baseball facility.

As part of the press conference, it was announced that J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park would remain in the same iconic location on the corner of Tech Drive and Alabama Avenue where it stood for almost 50 years.

It would also bear the same name. The facility, known as Tech Stadium until 1982, was named in honor of J.C. Love, a Ruston businessman who whole-heartedly supported the Bulldog Baseball program. On May 22, 2008, the facility was rededicated as J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park in honor of LA Tech coaching legend Pat “Gravy” Patterson.

And in March of 2020, construction officially began with the goal of having the new state-of-the-art facility ready in time for the 2021 season.

That goal became a reality on Feb. 26 when the Bulldogs opened the new “Love Shack” in style with a 9-2 victory over Southern. It was exactly 675 days since the last time LA Tech’s baseball team hosted a game on campus.

Fans were not allowed inside the stadium due to ongoing construction, but hundreds watched from beyond the left field wall to catch the action.

It would not be until March 5, the day that got started with Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards cutting the ribbon to officially open the new and improved J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson, when fans got to walk through the grand entry, sit in the blue chair back seats and enjoy LA Tech shutout McNeese State, 11-0.

The following weekend, the Bulldogs hosted No. 1-ranked Arkansas in a three-game series, defeating the Razorbacks by a final score of 2-0 in the Sunday finale, the program's first-ever victory over a top-ranked opponent. Two days later, they pounded 4th-ranked Ole Miss, 13-1.

In late May, the facility played host to the 2021 Conference USA Baseball Championship that saw the Bulldogs advance all the way to the title game after two epic comebacks against 19th-ranked Southern Miss. Down 8-0 after four innings, LA Tech stormed back to win 11-10 in a four-hour marathon that went 10 innings. The team turned around less than three hours later and made another improbable comeback, scoring four runs in the bottom of the ninth to walk it off, 6-5.

The following week, the "Love Shack" played host to an NCAA Regional for the first time in program history, welcoming 10,546 Bulldog fans (including a jam-packed 2,817 for the matchup against NC State) over the four games the Bulldogs participated in.

LA Tech would finish the 2021 with a 25-14 home record, backed up by an impressive 24-8 stint in 2022 that included an 11-6 victory over No. 2-ranked LSU. The 49 home victories is the second most ever in back-to-back series behind only the 55 tallied during the 1987-88 seasons.

The facility was designed so that the fan/patron enters the stadium and is always in view of the field. The concessions stands and merchandise stands are on the main concourse so the fan can always be a part of the action.

Total capacity of the facility is 2,100. There is a fixed seating capacity of 1,322 permanent chair back seats, as well as a first base turf berm area for fans to bring chairs. Extending down the right field line is an area for tailgate tents and there is also a grass berm beyond the right field fence that is the home of the Kennel, the student section or LA Tech.

The stadium walls are all padded in Tech blue. The outfield wall varies in height with it being 12’ in left field and dropping to 8’ in right center (315’ left, 380’ center, 325’ right).

The pressbox level features four suites, a radio booth for both home and visiting teams, scoreboard productions, TV production and a booth for the writing press.

The scoreboard is a Daktronics scoreboard featuring both a video screen and a fixed digit scoreboard. There is an additional auxiliary scoreboard in the stands so the fans in the outfield can see the game updates.

Origin Bank Baseball Complex

The Origin Bank Baseball Complex sits down the left field line, connecting to J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.

The state-of-the-art facility features coaches offices and a conference room overlooking the field as well as a team meeting room, athletic training room comprised of treatment tables and cold tubs, player's locker room and lounge, umpire locker room, coach and staff locker rooms and an equipment room.

A fully conditioned, indoor hitting space is also part of the complex. It houses four oversized lanes for hitting and pitching with a playing surface the same as the main field. A weight station is also in the hitting space that houses two full racks with dumbbells and other cardio equipment. The facility is equipped with 75" TVs to be used for analytics and also a Bluetooth sound system.