Rams to Play at Foster Field

From Angelo State Athletics
Angelo State University’s Ram baseball season will begin Sunday, Feb. 1, at Foster Field, Athletics Director Kathleen Brasfield announced Thursday, but with limited amenities for the season opener.

The university will have access to the field itself and the stands for all games this season. Concessions and the stadium’s bathroom facilities will not be available for the opening series, though portable restroom facilities will be provided.

Brasfield said ASU’s use of Foster Field has been complicated this season by the declaration of bankruptcy filed by the San Angelo Colts baseball team.

“We regret that fans will not have full access to all the amenities they have become accustomed to at Foster Field,” Brasfield said, “but we feel this is the best solution available to us at the moment and especially for our athletes, who have worked so diligently in preparation for another successful baseball season.”

In the interim, Brasfield said her department will work to restore the Ram game experience at future games to the level fans have enjoyed in past seasons.

The Rams will open the 2009 season at noon Sunday with a doubleheader against the Ouachita Baptist University Tigers. A third game is scheduled for noon Monday.

Not until Wednesday, Jan. 28, did ASU access the baseball facility for the season. The immediate challenge for the Athletics Department is getting the field in shape to play this weekend. First steps were to get water turned on and the power restored to the field so it could be irrigated and conditioned for play in four days.

ASU will assume the costs of utilities and insurance as well as any grounds maintenance expenditures necessary for games to begin on a playable and safe field in the manner required by the NCAA for Division II competition. The university, however, has not assumed responsibility for the condition of the stadium itself.