On Friday, Wichita State unveiled its new baseball facilities at Eck Stadium called Phase V. The new upgrades will help the program compete with some of the best in the country, as a whole.

With more than 100 of the donors and supporters in attendance, WSU introduced the 10,000 square foot facility that features a new locker room, strength and conditioning center, along with classrooms and offices. It also included new turf for the field and a brand new third base dugout for the Shockers.

For Head Coach Eric Wedge, he feels that this project is a necessary step in the right direction to help bring the program back into national prominence.

“I’m a big believer that you have to have tremendous resources to be a champion,” Wedge said. “You need to have everything in place to have the opportunity to be a champion. This facility here thanks to everyone’s generosity to Wichita State and to Wichita State baseball is tremendous.”

For the aspect of helping to recruit more talent, not only for the baseball side of things but school-wide, this new facility will help to play a large part in getting more people interested in the university.

“I am so proud because of what this will do for our future athletes,” Wichita State president Jay Golden said. “Athletics is a front door for this university. Athletics is what’s going to drive more and more students for us to be able to recruit talent, for us retain talent in Wichita and Kansas.”

In total, the project ended up costing just over $3.5 million with over 100 donors giving to the project that was privately funded by the university. Although the new facility will help to improve the overall fan experience, that is not the most important aspect of the project.

“Each and every gift provided to this endeavor will not only benefit the fan experience but most importantly the experience of our student-athletes,” Director of Athletic Development Alex Johnson said.

Despite the recent dip in success within the baseball program, the university remains committed to having a successful program and the project is another way that the university is looking to prove that.

“This is an important step for our baseball program,” Athletic Director Darron Boatright said. “If nothing else, for the optics that it shows. Wichita State is and remains committed to having a nationally relevant baseball program and this is just another step to prove that.”

Despite having $3.5 million already dedicated to the project, there are still naming opportunities present for the new facility.