Charlie and Marie Lupton Baseball Stadium at Williams-Reilly Field
Field Name: Williams-Reilly Field
Field Surface: Natural Grass
Address
TCU Baseball Field
3700 Berry Street
Fort Worth, TX 76109
G. Malcolm Louden Player Development Center
Lupton Baseball Stadium at Williams-Reilly Field History
The 2003 season marked the beginning of a new era in TCU baseball with the opening of the Charlie and Marie Lupton Baseball Stadium at Williams-Reilly Field. The stadium officially opened its gates on Feb. 2, 2003 when the Frogs hosted long-time Metroplex rival UT Arlington. A crowd of 3,105 packed the stands for the inaugural game at the Frogs' new home turf. Prior to a contest between TCU and Houston on March 28, the stadium underwent its official dedication ceremony.
Lupton Stadium has played host to two conference tournaments (2008, 2009), eight NCAA Regionals (2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2021) and four NCAA Super Regionals (2014, 2015, 2017 and 2023).
A record crowd of 7,383 fans packed the stadium as the Frogs squared-off against Texas A&M in game two of the 2015 NCAA Super Regional. Crowds of over 7,000 packed Lupton Stadium all three games of the Super Regional against the Aggies. In total, the Super Regional saw a Lupton-series record of 21,876 fans enter the facility. The 2017 season saw the highest attendance average in school history at 4,785.
The $7-million state-of-the-art baseball facility is located on the campus of TCU with the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center, Lowdon Track and Field Complex and Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium neighboring the home turf of the Frogs. Ground broke on Lupton Stadium on Oct. 18, 2001 with construction officially beginning on Dec. 3, 2001.
The baseball stadium was named after Charlie and Marie Lupton in recognition of a $2-million gift from the Brown-Lupton Foundation, which was founded in 1944 by business partners T.J. "Tom" Brown and Charles A. Lupton. The business leaders owned the Fort Worth Coca-Cola Bottling franchise and other bottling plants in both Texas as well as California.
Lupton Stadium was not the first project at TCU that the Brown-Lupton Foundation helped become a reality as the Foundation contributed naming rights to the Brown-Wright Residential Community, Brown-Lupton Student Center as well as the Brown-Lupton Health Center. Additionally, the Foundation has donated to the construction of Tandy Hall, Walsh Center for Performing Arts and Mary Couts Burnett Library along with providing significant support for TCU athletics, research, scholarships and other University needs. In all, the Brown-Lupton Foundation has donated more than $11.5-million to TCU over the last three decades.
The playing surface is named Williams-Reilly Field in honor of former TCU baseball coach Roger Williams and business leader Michael Reilly. Williams - who lettered on the diamond for TCU from 1968-71 - guided the Frogs as their head coach in 1976 before holding a position on the TCU Board of Trustees and serving as the Chairman of the Lupton Stadium Capital Campaign. Owner of the Roger Williams Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep in Weatherford - the former TCU head coach has been a strong supporter of Purple and White athletics throughout the decades in both financial contributions as well as dedication of time. Williams also held the distinguished position of Secretary of State for the State of Texas from 2005 through 2007.
A commercial real estate developer in the Metroplex, Reilly has been a strong philanthropist in the DFW community for many years by supporting a number of area initiatives as well as serving as a minority owner of the Texas Rangers' Baseball Club from 1974 through the 1998 campaign. Williams and Reilly are lifelong friends and were high school teammates at Arlington Heights High School in Fort Worth. In all, more than 220 donors contributed to the construction of Lupton Stadium and Williams-Reilly Field.
Considered one of the premier baseball facilities in collegiate baseball, Lupton Stadium features 4,500 seats and a unique two-deck structure that allows every seat to be extremely close to the playing surface for a great vantage point of all the exciting on-field action.
A canti-leveled roof system covers part of the stadium grandstands protecting fans from the hot Texas sun as well as the unexpected rain. In addition, patios outside of right field were added prior to the 2008 season as well as sun covers over the bullpen seating areas. Additional seating areas can be found in the spacious terraced berm area located behind the first-base line and a new addition in 2016, behind right field.
In the summer of 2015, construction began on a new Horned Frogs' locker room, classroom, team lounge, sports medicine center, equipment room and coaches' offices. The new facility, which was completed prior to the 2016 season, is located down the left-field line. A new state-of-the-art video board was also installed prior to the 2016 season. Additional seating was added behind the right field fence. Shrubbery was cleared out and a four-level terraced seating area was added where the old scoreboard resided.
Lupton Stadium also maintains the feel of the TCU Diamond - the former home of the Frogs - as the foul poles and flag poles donated by Williams were moved to the new stadium to give long-time Frog faithfuls a touch of the old park. The main entrance to Lupton Stadium even includes some of the bricks that made up the Wrigley Field-style backstop at the old TCU Diamond.
The playing surface features the latest technology in field maintenance, including a Bermuda TIFF 419 surface. The dugouts feature Major League Baseball-style bat and helmet racks while a spacious home-and-visitor bullpen areas are located outside the field the field of play.
Another addition to Lupton Stadium was the G. Malcolm Louden Player Development Center, which was dedicated on Oct. 3, 2014. The new building, situated where the home bullpen used to reside in left field, features a hitting facility and a Field Turf practice area.
The hitting facility alone is a 9,000 square foot area that includes four 80-foot long cages as well as indoor pitching mounds, a tee and toss area and the latest in video analysis software. The cage system will allow the coaching staff to maneuver the nets to allow for as many as eight players to hit at once or to set the facility up as one large cage for pitcher vs. hitter simulated games.
Along with the hitting facility, a new Field Turf practice area has been installed down the left field line. This area will be used primarily for individual defensive improvement for all players as well as practice in the areas of base running, sliding and bunting.
