For years, the athletic facilities at Idaho State University were neglected. It wasn’t deliberate malfeasance, the money just simply wasn’t there.
Former Idaho State Athletic Director Jeff Tingey and his staff began to change that. New locker rooms were built or remodeled for football, women’s basketball, soccer and volleyball. A video board was installed at what was Holt Arena. The initial build at Miller-Ranch Stadium for softball was completed. It all brought ISU closer to the other schools in the conference from a facilities standpoint.
Current athletic director Pauline Thiros, with her staff, have thrown renovations and upgrades into high gear. Large projects like a complete renovation of Davis Field for soccer and track were undertaken. Seventeen million dollars were raised and used to upgrade Holt Arena, now known as the ICCU Dome, new video boards and scoreboards were installed at Reed Gym, replacing the boards that had been in use since at least the early 90’s.
And now a second phase of upgrades and renovations to Miller Ranch Stadium, which is hosting next week’s Big Sky Conference softball tournament, have been completed.
The double-elimination tournament starts on Wednesday. Northern Colorado is the number one seed, host Idaho State is the two seed. All together, six teams are involved, including Sacramento State, Portland State, Weber State and Montana. The winner gets the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The fans who come to watch the games in person or watch them on ESPN+ will see a number of changes. The changes this offseason cost in the neighborhood of $600,000, but Thiros feels it is money well spent.
“We are pleased to be able to make these improvements to yet another of our iconic venues at Idaho State. Miller Ranch Stadium is nested in a beautiful spot, and settling in to watch Bengal softball from the berm on beautiful spring days is special in our community,” she said. “We have to maintain and improve these amenities continually, not only for our community, but to ensure we provide our student-athletes with the experience and opportunity they deserve.”
The changes include:
A new cement backstop with branded padding that provides a safer environment for the players.
New branded wind screens along the outfield fence to help mitigate at least somewhat the prevailing winds that always seem to blow at the field.
New protective netting behind the home plate area, which eliminated the vision blocking support poles, yet will still provide safety for spectators.
Renovations to the press box, making it easier for broadcasters to provide game coverage without being exposed to the sometimes harsh spring elements.
And finally a brand-new Daktronics video board in right center field. ISU is the only school in the conference to have one for softball. It enables complete statistical information and video replays to be shown immediately.
Bengal head coach Andy Rich is a big fan of all the changes.
“These updates are an awesome start to the projects that are planned for Miller Ranch. It has already made a dramatic impact on the look of the field itself,” Rich said in a press release. “Our team and I cannot say thank you enough to ICCU for their contributions to help get a videoboard at our facility. This is a great thing for our student-athletes and fans alike, as well as recruits that come to campus in the future.”
ISU Sports Information Director Jon Match was out at the field Thursday morning helping to put the last-minute finishing touches on things as well as takings photos. He was asked how he liked the changes.
“I love them,” he said. “They really will make a difference for our fans and the players.”
Idaho State is also in the process of trying to raise $500,000 to replace the natural grass surface of Miller Ranch Stadium with artificial turf. The weather has been so bad in the spring in Southeast Idaho for the last few years that the program simply hasn’t been able to play many home games due to the conditions.
Astroturf changes the way the game itself is played, but given the circumstances, it is the only solution outside of building a dome over the field. This year, ISU was only able to play four home games − the fewest in the conference − and all those came the last few days of the regular season. The University of Montana doesn’t have great weather this time of year either. But it still played 22 home games due to having a turf field.
If Idaho State is able to install a turf field, the process would start in late August or early September and would take four to six weeks to complete. The most time-consuming part of that process would be grading and leveling the field.
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