Monongalia County Ballpark facts for kids
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| Location | 2040 Gyorko Drive Granville, West Virginia 26534 |
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| Coordinates | 39°38′41″N 79°59′45″W / 39.64473°N 79.995838°W |
| Owner | Monongalia County |
| Operator | West Virginia University |
| Capacity | 3,500 |
| Record attendance | 4,357 May 31, 2019 Fordham |
| Field size | Foul Lines: 325 feet Power Alleys: 375 feet Center Field: 400 feet |
| Surface | Synthetic Turf |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | October 17, 2013 |
| Opened | April 10, 2015 |
| Construction cost | US$25 million |
| Architect | Populous DLA Architecture |
| Structural engineer | Allegheny Design Services |
| Services engineer | M–E Engineers, Inc. |
| General contractor | Mascaro Construction |
| Tenants | |
| West Virginia Black Bears (NYPL/MLBDL) (2015–present) West Virginia Mountaineers (NCAA) (2015–present) |
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Monongalia County Ballpark is a baseball stadium in Granville, West Virginia. The stadium, opened April 10, 2015, is the home of the baseball team of West Virginia University (WVU), a member of the Big 12 Conference, and the West Virginia Black Bears, a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League.
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Construction
Plans were announced to build a new stadium for the West Virginia Mountaineers baseball team in 2013. Ground was broken for the new ballpark at University Town Centre, an off-campus shopping and entertainment complex in Granville, adjacent to WVU's home city of Morgantown, on October 17, 2013. The ballpark has 2,500 fixed seats with additional hillside and club seating, a fan amenity deck, and a park that is open year-round. The field has a synthetic surface, other than the clay pitcher's mound.
In August 2014, the Jamestown Jammers of the Class A Short Season New York–Penn League, a Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball, announced that they would move to West Virginia, taking the name "West Virginia Black Bears", and use Monongalia County Ballpark as their home stadium. The Black Bears were affiliated with the Pirates from their inception until MLB's reorganization of the minors after the 2020 season. They then became a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League.
As a result of inclement weather in February 2015, the scheduled opening of the stadium was pushed back to April 10, 2015.
Attendance
In 2015, the Mountaineers ranked 39th among Division I baseball programs in attendance, averaging 1,801 per home game.
Milestones
| Achievement | Record | ||||||||||
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| Largest Attendance | 4,355 (May 31, 2019 vs Fordham)|- | Overall Record in Facility | - | Big 12 Record in Facility | - | Record vs. Ranked Opponents | - | Record vs. State Opponents | - | 1st Game | (April 10, 2015 vs. Butler) |
| 1st Night Game | (April 10, 2015 vs. Butler) | ||||||||||
| 1st Win | 6-5 (13 innings) (April 10, 2015 vs. Butler) | ||||||||||
| 1st Loss | 5-3 (April 14, 2015 vs. Penn State) | ||||||||||
| 1st Big 12 Win | 6-5 (April 18, 2015 vs. #23 Oklahoma) | ||||||||||
| 1st Win over Ranked Team | 6-5 (April 18, 2015 vs. #23 Oklahoma) | ||||||||||
| *As of the 2017 season | |||||||||||
Awards
In the ballpark's inaugural season, it was named the best short season Single A ballpark in the country according to BallparkDigest.com.
