The Sports Turf Managers Association has selected the University of South Carolina Upstate’s Cleveland S. Harley Baseball Park as the Collegiate Baseball Field of the Year.

University representatives will accept the award in January, during the STMA Awards Banquet, which is part of the 2018 STMA Conference and Exhibition. The 2018 conference will be held in Fort Worth, Texas. 

While discussing the honor, Bruce Suddeth, director of building and landscape services at USC Upstate, credited the University administration for supporting his department’s goals for the athletics fields.

“Number one is having the resources and support from the administration to get done what we do,” Suddeth said recently. “We have to pick and choose our battles of what’s best for our athletics fields, and number one is safety. We want to make sure the field is safe for our athletes and anybody that steps on the field. We have camps in the summer, and some high school ball. So we need to make sure everything’s safe.”

Suddeth said the latest honor continues a tradition of recognition for the quality of athletics fields at the University. The softball field has won similar nationwide acclaim from the STMA twice, in 2006 and 2015, as well as the USC Upstate Soccer Complex receiving the STMA’s Environmental Certified Facility accreditation.