WICHITA, Kan. – On November 20, the Kansas Board of Regents approved a request from Wichita State to enhance the name of the on-campus baseball stadium to Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field at Gene Stephenson Park.
The stadium name was enhanced to honor Hall of Fame coach Gene Stephenson who was the head coach at Wichita State from 1978-2013.
“We are grateful to the Kansas Board of Regents for their support of this important honor,” said Wichita State Director of Athletics Kevin Saal. “Gene Stephenson developed Wichita State into a national baseball power, advanced one of the top facilities in the country and even today, continues his loyal support of this beloved program. We are proud to enhance the naming of this incredible facility in Coach Stephenson’s honor.”
When he came to WSU in 1977 from the University of Oklahoma, the Shocker baseball program was just being started again. He was instrumental in building the program and the stadium from the ground up.
Stephenson was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014, the Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame in 2019 and is a three-time NCAA Coach of the Year and 11-time Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year. In 1989, he led the Shockers to the College World Series championship.
He led WSU to seven College World Series appearances, 27 NCAA Regional appearances, two NCAA Super Regional appearances, 20 Valley regular-season titles, and 17 Valley tournament championships. He directed Wichita State to more wins than any NCAA Division I program in the country eight times and coached 33 players at Wichita State who played in the Major Leagues.
He coached three players named NCAA Player of the Year and one named NCAA Pitcher of the Year. He also coached two players named NCAA Academic Player of the Year and 20 players who earned Academic All-America honors a total of 27 times.
He coached 54 All-Americans, 33 Freshman All-Americans, 15 conference Players of the Year, 12 conference Pitchers of the Year and 13 MLB first-round draft picks. He is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference All-Centennial Team and won 60 or more games five times and 50 or more games 19 times.
His number 10 is the only Shocker baseball number to be retired.
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