There’s be no bad hops — in which a batted ball mysteriously bounces over an infielder’s shoulder or past his mitt — during the Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament this May. That’s because St. Louis-based Byrne & Jones Sports installed a new artificial turf at host team Illinois State University’s field in Normal, Ill.
The new turf, FieldTurf Double Play, took four months to install, with the project costing $350,000. The project included excavation, new rock sub-grade and drainage, storm-sewer improvements, synthetic-turf installation and a new pitching mound.
This summer, Byrne and Jones Sports will complete more than $3.65 million in collegiate athletic projects, including the installation of a new synthetic turf field for Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill., and a new track and field for Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo.