The new facility makes UNK the only school in the region with an indoor batting and hitting facility at the field of play. The building also houses offices for the coaching staff, new showers and laundry facilities, a computer lab and a large projection screen.

“This started off as a place for batting practice and throwing,” said Head Coach Damon Day, “then the academic center and little league partnership came about and it became something bigger. Now we have a premiere hitting facility right outside of left field.”

“Without the support of private donors, a facility of this magnitude does not happen,” he said. “Donors’ support of our student athletes is what makes projects like this succeed.”

More than $54,000 was given anonymously to the University of Nebraska Foundation to provide the lead gift for the $230,000 project. Private gifts are still being accepted to complete the new building.

Other major donors include Kearney Little League, Ron Jiede and Scott Cruickshank. Jiede and Cruickshank played on the Loper baseball team and earned their bachelor’s degrees in 1967 and 1987, respectively, from what was then known as Kearney State College.

Players are seeing the benefits of the new facility helpful almost immediately. Jared Loschen, a junior chemistry major from Kearney who pitches for the Lopers, remembers many practices cut short or called off because of bad weather.

“Now we are able to practice every day inside one of the nicest baseball facilities in this area,” he said. “In the new facility we are able to practice hitting, fielding ground balls, and pitching, all in a more game-like and realistic atmosphere. This facility will be a huge benefit not only to the current and prospective UNK baseball players, but also for young baseball players in the community of Kearney to have a chance to come to an indoor facility and practice baseball.  We greatly appreciate all of the  donations to the new indoor baseball facility.”

The new building, like the stadium where it is housed, is available to Kearney Little League teams as well American Legion teams in Kearney.

“We want these teams to use this,” Day said. “The better the kids do, the better we do down the road.” A majority of the players on the Loper roster are from Nebraska and 25 percent of those players are from Kearney, he said.

“This has in immeasurable impact on our team,” Day said. “I can’t think of 10 other Division II teams that have complete access to facilities like this.”The difference the building made was immediately visible to the Loper team, Day said. “Our hitters hit more live indoor pitching the first five days of practice this season than they did my first five years here.”

The differences will continue to be noticed, he said. Thanks to Jiede, players now have a lounge where they can have team meetings and where Kearney little league and American legion teams can gather. The lounge includes computer stations that allow Loper players to study without having to drive back to campus, and the projection screen helps them analyze video of opponents as well as video of their own performance.

The artificial turf of the practice facility can be divided into three to six separate stations for hitting and live pitching from a pitching mound. An array of nets can create separate stations to accommodate the team’s practice needs.

The University of Nebraska Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation that has raised private gifts to support the University of Nebraska for 73 years. Last year, it provided more than $130 million – the most ever – for students, faculty, academic programs, research, and building improvements on all four campuses.