WICHITA, Kan. (News Release) – On November 20, the Kansas Board of Regents approved a request from Wichita State to improve the name of the on-campus baseball stadium to Eck Stadium, home of Tyler Field at Gene Stephenson Park.

The stadium’s name was improved in honor of Hall of Fame coach Gene Stephenson, who served as head coach at Wichita State from 1978 to 2013.

“We are grateful to the Kansas Board of Regents for their support of this important honor,” said Wichita State Athletic Director Kevin Saal. “Gene Stephenson built Wichita State into a national baseball power, advanced one of the best facilities in the country and, even today, continues to faithfully support this beloved program. We are proud to elevate the name of this incredible facility in honor of Coach Stephenson.

When he arrived at WSU in 1977 from the University of Oklahoma, the Shocker baseball program was just starting up again. He was instrumental in building the program and stadium from the ground up.

Stephenson was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014, the Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame in 2019 and is a three-time NCAA Coach of the Year and 11-time Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year. In 1989, he led the Shockers to the College World Series championship.

He led WSU to seven College World Series appearances, 27 NCAA Regional appearances, two NCAA Super Regional appearances, 20 Valley regular season titles and 17 Valley tournament championships. He has led Wichita State to more wins than any NCAA Division I program in the country eight times and has coached 33 players at Wichita State who have played in the major leagues.

He has coached three players named NCAA Player of the Year and one named NCAA Pitcher of the Year. He also coached two players named NCAA Academic Player of the Year and 20 players who earned Academic All-America honors a total of 27 times.

He has coached 54 All-Americans, 33 Freshman All-Americans, 15 Conference Players of the Year, 12 Conference Pitchers of the Year and 13 MLB first-round draft picks. He is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference Centennial Team and has won 60 or more games five times and 50 or more games 19 times.

His number 10 is the only Shocker baseball number to be retired.

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