Having a new head coach, higher expectations and adjusting to an unfamiliar system this season are not the only new aspects of this year's Auburn baseball team.
Plainsman Park also underwent many new renovations before this season.
"We want to be the best player development facility in the country," head coach Sunny Golloway said. "It's all about development, and then we'll have the best coaches to develop that talent."
Auburn baseball recently unveiled the additions of a new bullpen, upgraded hitting facility and a new locker room that has several state-of-the-art features.
The locker room is completely renovated and feels like an MLB locker room with flat-screen televisions, cubbies marked by each player's number where they hold clean clothes for every practice and game, hot and cold hydrotherapy tubs, and a new room filled with everything the trainers need to keep the players healthy.
The Green Monster in left field added a hole, now bullpen pitchers will be able to watch the game as it's going on.
"It's really nice how we cleaned it up and made it more desirable to be in there," Golloway said.
Students who were in attendance at the open house Tuesday, Feb. 18, toured the new facilities and are looking forward to this baseball season for multiple reasons.
"I think the new renovations will have a huge impact on the future of the program, especially with recruitment," said Brad Hosking, sophomore in supply-chain management. "With the new coach and impressive additions to the park and roster, I think there is a lot more to be excited about for this season than last."
Steven Benton, sophomore in aviation management, has been going to Auburn games at Plainsman Park since he was eight years old and is excited for what could be in store this season.
"I can see home attendance increasing this year since Auburn has a new coach who seems to have the same attitude as Gus Malzahn saying, 'It's a new day,'" Benton said. "This kind of mindset will bring baseball fans from around the state to catch a few ball games this season."
Although the baseball facilities went through numerous renovations in the offseason, Golloway is ready for more additions in the future.
"Hopefully, if President Gogue will stay hooked up with me and agree, we're going to get us a practice field somewhere between [Hitchcock Field] and the new dorms," Golloway said.
Golloway said he hopes to bring the seats all the way down to the field level and pull the dugouts out farther and make them deeper.
Golloway said he knows they need to build camera wells since they will be on television alot with the new SEC ESPN Network launching this summer.
Another future renovation that Gollway is considering is the addition of six rows of seats above the Green Monster in left field and refer to it as the "Eagle's Nest."
"We'd like to go ahead and get the seats above it just like Fenway," Golloway said. "Those would be very desirable seats; six rows on top of the big Green Monster to watch the ballgame."
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