 | |
| Former names | Bear Field (1962–1976); Claude Smith Field (1977–2016) |
|---|---|
| Location | Adams Street, Macon, GA, USA |
| Coordinates | 32°49′42″N83°39′12″W / 32.828471°N 83.653437°W Coordinates: 32°49′42″N83°39′12″W / 32.828471°N 83.653437°W |
| Owner | Mercer University |
| Capacity | 1,500 |
| Field size | Left Field: 330 ft Left Center Field: 370 ft Center Field: 400 ft Right Center Field: 350 ft Right Field: 320 ft |
| Surface | Natural grass with artificial turf halo around home plate |
| Scoreboard | Electronic |
| Construction | |
| Renovated | 2003, 2017 |
| Tenants | |
| Mercer Bears baseball A-Sun Tournament (1994) | |
OrthoGeorgia Park at Claude Smith Field is a 1,500-seat baseball stadium on the campus of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, United States. [1] [2] The facility has a press box, concession stands, and additional berm seating along the right field fence. On November 11, 2014, Mercer announced plans to renovate and expand the stadium, which will include new seating areas, concession areas, press box, dugouts, and a new entrance plaza. Significant funding will be provided by OrthoGeorgia in return for future naming rights. [3]
Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two opposing teams who take turns batting and fielding. The game proceeds when a player on the fielding team, called the pitcher, throws a ball which a player on the batting team tries to hit with a bat. The objective of the offensive team is to hit the ball into the field of play, allowing it to run the bases—having its runners advance counter-clockwise around four bases to score what are called "runs". The objective of the defensive team is to prevent batters from becoming runners, and to prevent runners' advance around the bases. A run is scored when a runner legally advances around the bases in order and touches home plate. The team that scores the most runs by the end of the game is the winner.
Mercer University is a private university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in Georgia and enrolls more than 8,600 students in 12 colleges and schools: liberal arts, business, engineering, education, music, continuing and professional studies, law, theology, medicine, pharmacy, nursing, and health professions. Mercer is a member of the Georgia Research Alliance and has a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest collegiate honors society.
Macon, officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. Macon lies near the geographic center of the state, approximately 85 miles (137 km) south of Atlanta, hence the city's nickname "The Heart of Georgia".
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The facility is named for Claude Smith, Mercer baseball coach from 1948-77. The field was named for him upon his retirement in 1977; Smith won 405 games as Mercer's coach and is the winningest coach in university history. [4]
The field is located adjacent to Mercer's other athletic facilities including the University Center (basketball arena and athletic department offices), Moye Complex (football and lacrosse), and Sikes Field (softball). There is a 101-room Hilton Garden Inn on university-owned land adjacent to the field. Large parking lots are available for visitors-spectators arriving via the Mercer University Drive exit off of Interstate 75.
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball through the defender's hoop while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own hoop. A field goal is worth two points, unless made from behind the three-point line, when it is worth three. After a foul, timed play stops and the player fouled or designated to shoot a technical foul is given one or more one-point free throws. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but if regulation play expires with the score tied, an additional period of play (overtime) is mandated.
The Tony and Nancy Moye Football and Lacrosse Complex is a 10,200 seat football and lacrosse stadium on the campus of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, United States. Construction began on November 12, 2011 and was completed in 2013; the AstroTurf 3D Extreme surface was completed in 2012, the football team conducted its first practice in the stadium on August 27, 2012. The university initially announced the complex would have 6,000 seats; the number was increased to 10,200 in 2012. The first football game at Moye Complex was on August 31, 2013; Mercer defeated Reinhardt University in front of an overflow crowd of 12,172 spectators.
American football, referred to as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, which is the team with possession of the oval-shaped football, attempts to advance down the field by running with or passing the ball, while the defense, which is the team without possession of the ball, aims to stop the offense's advance and to take control of the ball for themselves. The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs, or plays; if they fail, they turn over the football to the defense, but if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs to continue the drive. Points are primarily scored by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponent's goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins.
