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Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field
In Southern Miss folklore, the names Pete Taylor and Hill Denson are legendary. Not only are the two among the greatest coaches in school history, but the two are immortalized as the namesakes of the Golden Eagles' home stadium. Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field has been the home of Southern Miss baseball since 1985, when the facility was opened. "The Pete" as it is nicknamed, has seated more a million fans who have entered its gates. During that time, the Golden Eagles have been regularly among the top teams in the nation in attendance. The stadium is named in honor of C.J. "Pete" Taylor, who remains a dedicated Golden Eagle fan after serving the University in a variety of capacities until his retirement. Taylor became the 10th baseball coach in Southern Miss history and guided the Golden Eagle baseball program from 1959-83. In his 24 years as head coach, he compiled an overall record of 320-351-2. Seven years ago, Hill Denson Field was added to the name of the park in honor of the man, who carried the torch after Taylor and took the baseball program to the next level, a higher status where it currently competes today. One of Taylor's pupils, Denson took the reins from his mentor in 1984 and took the Golden Eagles to unprecedented heights. In his 14 seasons as the head coach at Southern Miss, Denson compiled a 468-386-2 record, guiding the program to 10 30-win seasons, two 40-win seasons and two trips to the NCAA Regional Tournament, the school's first in all three categories. Southern Miss Head Baseball Coach Corky Palmer's baseball roots can be traced to both men. He played for Taylor from 1974-77, and he started his coaching career as Denson's graduate assistant coach in 1985. In 1997, Denson brought Palmer back home to Southern Miss as his handpicked successor. The stadium features bleacher seating for 2,000 fans and chair back seating for 1,678. The stadium also has media facilities and an increasingly popular right field lounge area known as the "Right Field Roost," which has reserved parking for 40 vehicles and is equipped with barbeque grills. The waiting list for a spot in this area continues to grow. Since the park first opened, it has undergone numerous improvements. In 1991, the press box was enlarged to handle radio and television broadcasts. A concession area, permanent restroom facilities, along with an electronic scoreboard also were added. Over the years, other additions have included expanded sunken dugouts, an automatic underground watering system, underground french drainage system, a full-size infield tarp, Triple A specification lighting system, a state-of-the-art public address system, four covered batting cages equipped with pitching machines and covered bullpen mounds. The Rogers, Thames and Welch Baseball Center, opened its doors in August of 2001. It provides the Golden Eagles program with several amenities, including a team locker room, training room, meeting room, an area for equipment storage and distribution, a laundry area, as well as coaches' offices and dressing rooms for coaches and umpires. During the 2003 summer, the parking lot was paved and ornamental fencing replaced the fence and gates at the entrance of the park. A new state of the art scoreboard was added in the 2005 summer with an electronic video board. Plans are in place to construct 12 private luxury suites and a new press box. The construction will begin at the end of the 2006 home schedule, and the new structure being completed at the beginning of the 2007 season. The new structure will be comprised of three levels all accessible by elevator. There will be eight suites on the first level, four more suites and the press box will be on the second level and the third level will provide space for video operations. These upgrades, especially in the area of media facilities, have to be made in order for the Golden Eagles to have the necessary facilities to continue hosting conference and NCAA Tournaments. Southern Miss' home season attendance marks have ranked among the top 25 in the nation for the past 13 years. In 2005, a school-record average of 3,236 fans visited the park, breaking the old mark of 2,847 set the year before. The 2005 attendance numbers registered in the Top 20 of the nation for the second year in a row. It also marked the first year, the cumulative attendance broke 100,000 and the first time the average attendance was over the 3,000 mark. In 2005, an average of 3,149 fans was in attendance for the Marshall series, setting a new record for a season-opening series. An average of 4,195 watched the series with No.1-ranked Tulane, setting a new attendance record for a three-game series. The single-game mark was broken for the third year in a row as 5,377 fans were in attendance for the game with in-state rival Ole Miss. In 2003, Southern Miss was one of 16 NCAA Regional Tournament sites and the City of Hattiesburg supported it in record proportions. An average of 4,000 fans each game attended the three-day event, registering the seventh-most attended region based on average attendance. Pete Taylor Park single-game attendance records were shattered during the event (4,601) and the top two and three of the top five marks were set during the event. Because of the tradition of the program as well as the first-class facilities offered at "The Pete", Southern Miss has been selected to host several tournaments, including the 1990 Metro Conference Tournament, the inaugural Conference USA Tournament in 1996, the 2003 NCAA Hattiesburg Regional Tournament and the 2005 C-USA Tournament. Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field has developed into one of the top baseball parks in the South and is among the best in the nation. The facility not only serves as the home for Golden Eagle baseball but also is used by various American Legion and high school teams. Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Filed Quick Facts
Seating: 3,678 (1,678 chairback seats; 2,000 bleacher seats)
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