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 than 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.
Eight 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 chairback seating for 1,678. The stadium also has media facilities and a popular right field lounge area known as the "Right Field Roost," which has reserved parking for 40 vehicles and is equipped with barbeque grills.
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.
Pete Taylor Park is complemented by the Rogers, Thames and Welch Baseball Center, which opened its doors in August of 2001, and is located adjacent to the bleachers behind home plate and down the first base line. It provides the Golden Eagle 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.
The 2008 season saw the addition of 12 luxury suites and a new press box. This addition makes "The Pete" one of the few collegiate baseball stadium in the nation that offers luxury suites.
The addition includes two levels, both of which are accessible by elevator. There are eight luxury boxes on the first level and the second level consist of four suites and a working press box. There are also spacious booths for both home and visiting radio broadcast, a game operations booth and a larger booth to accommodate live television needs.
Southern Miss' home season attendance marks have ranked in the top 25 in the nation for the past 15 years, including top 20 marks the past four years (14-2007, 15-2006, 16-2005, 18-2004). The Golden Eagles have surpasses the 100,000 mark in attendance each of the last three seasons.
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 championship and all-star events.
