Bigger may not be better when it comes to Disch-Falk Field

There was nothing like UFCU Disch-Falk Field in the Big 12. The longtime home of the Longhorns has hosted some of the best to ever play college baseball and four national championship teams played their home games at the Disch. But compared to the ballparks of the SEC, the Disch isn’t an outlier like it was in the Longhorns’ old conference.

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That’s not to say the Disch is a decrepit stadium in need of a serious upgrade. The 7,373 person stadium with almost 20 suites and a number of other accessible premium areas is a fine facility for the Longhorn baseball program. But when looking around the Longhorns’ new conference, it functions as another example of the fervor with which SEC fans follow baseball.

The Longhorns experienced that first-hand on Friday night during their 8-7 win over Mississippi State and will again on Sunday for a scheduled double-header versus the Bulldogs. Dudy Noble Field in Starkville has a capacity of 15,000 and also features the legendary Left Field Lounge. Completely redone in 2018, “The Dude” is known as the “Carnegie Hall of College Baseball” for its size and its history.

While no stadium in the SEC matches the size of Dudy Noble, it illustrates just how much baseball means within the league. That underscores how important it is to have nice facilities, not just for the fans but for the players as well.

Eventually, the Longhorns plan to make some improvements to the Disch, but it will have to wait until the football team’s indoor practice facility is complete.

“Disch-Falk, the actual stadium, we did a remodel about four or five years ago where we added the batting cages and that stuff,” Texas athletics director Chris Del Conte said at his recent town hall. “The stadium itself, we’ve done some improvements with the press box. If you go underneath the bowels in the locker room and the training room, all that, that was built way back. Tommy Harmon goes ‘I remember this place in my day.’ Nothing’s changed. After we get done with the indoor and we complete that particular project, we need to look at softball and we need to look at baseball.”

Disch-Falk Field opened in 1975 and was almost completely unchanged until after the 2005 national championship. Texas made a massive renovation that upgraded seating and added nearly 20 suites to the top of the stadium. Del Conte revealed that the athletic department still owes $30 million for renovations done to the Disch.

To owe that much is a bit of an outlier. Now, Del Conte makes sure to fundraise before breaking ground. That’s what he did to ensure the J. Dan Brown Facility down the first base line was paid so as not to carry debt for the athletic department.

And if there is to be a renovation to the Disch, it’s not going to tremendously increase capacity from the current 7,373 that can sometimes reach as high as 8,000.

“Right now, the size of the stadium right now is perfect,” Del Conte said. “You’re going to think it’s not. I look at a Tuesday game, I don’t look at the Ole Miss series, or look at the LSU series, the Aggie series. We’re completely sold out. There’s some things that we can change to make it better, but I also want to make sure we grow the game in the right fashion. If we grow the game in the right fashion, we’re completely sold out. I’d love to extend the stadium down the left field side. Build the club up top, new seats, that’d be phenomenal.”

Del Conte paused before saying, “but we’ve got to earn that.”

For Tuesday games this year, the Longhorns have announced attendances of 6,964, 6,938, and 7,294, generous estimates all. When big rivals such as Texas A&M or an NCAA Regional heads to Austin, there’s been no problem packing 8,000 or more into the Disch. For Del Conte, that’s a signal that there’s not much reason to expand.

Texas has made changes to the Disch in recent years. There’s more permanent seating down the left field line where there previously were grass berms. A BYOB outfield area named the Yeti Yard is a popular destination for students and other Longhorn fans and provides a unique perspective for a game.

But expansion options are limited. There’s room for expansion in the area currently occupied by food trucks and other vendors near third base, but that’s also a significant point of entry. Outfield options are non-existent either, as beyond left field is a driveway for the East Campus garage and right field is bounded by Comal St., an avenue likely not for sale from the city of Austin.

When it comes to the Disch, Texas doesn’t seem think bigger is better even with the SEC claiming some of the largest stadiums in college baseball.

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SEC baseball stadiums by size

Sewell-Thomas Stadium – Alabama
Capacity: 8,500

Baum-Walker Stadium – Arkansas
Capacity: 10,737

Samford Stadium – Auburn
Capacity: 4,403

Condron Ballpark – Florida
Capacity: 7,000

Foley Field – Georgia
Capacity: 3,291

Kentucky Proud Park – Kentucky
Capacity: 5,000

Alex Box Stadium – LSU
Capacity: 10,326

Swayze Field – Ole Miss
Capacity: 12,152

Dudy Noble Field – Mississippi State
Capacity: 15,000

Taylor Stadium – Missouri
Capacity: 3,031

L. Dale Mitchell Park – Oklahoma
Capacity: 3,180

Founders Park – South Carolina
Capacity: 8,242

Lindsey Nelson Stadium – Tennessee
Capacity: 5,548

UFCU Disch-Falk Field – Texas
Capacity: 7,373

Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park – Texas A&M
Capacity: 6,100

Hawkins Field – Vanderbilt
Capacity: 3,626