DeKALB, Ill.  – Northern Illinois University will officially dedicate the home of NIU Baseball as Ralph McKinzie Field at Walt and Janice Owens Park on Sunday, April 16 in a ceremony that will take place prior to the start of NIU's schedule baseball game versus Western Michigan.
 
The dedication will take place – rain or shine – beginning at 11:15 a.m. in the tent located behind the first base dugout; the public is invited to attend.
 
NIU President Lisa Freeman, former Board of Trustees chair Wheeler Coleman, NIU Vice President and Director of Athletics and Recreation as well as Huskie baseball head coach Mike Kunigonis will all provide remarks during the ceremony as will Mrs. Janice Owens, wife of the late Walt Owens.  
 
Walt Owens, known to thousands of Huskie students, student-athletes and staff as "Coach O" during his 45-plus years as a coach, faculty member, mentor and pioneer in NIU's Black community, passed away in September 2020. He served as NIU's head baseball coach from 1976-82 after originally coming to DeKalb as an assistant men's basketball coach in 1973, a position he held until 1978. He was a professor and member of the faculty at NIU from 1973-2007.  Read more about his life, legacy and career, here .
 
"This is a landmark dedication for NIU," Frazier said. "Like so many in this community, I was honored to know Coach O and to see the impact he had on generations of Huskies, students and student-athletes alike, as well as coaches and faculty members. To be able to put the Owens name on our baseball facility and to forever honor their legacy means so much. Thank you to Walt and Janice and to all of the donors who made this commitment to NIU Baseball."
 
The Owens' were two of the benefactors, among many other former players, alumni and friends, to Phase One of the baseball facilities project, which was completed this spring. During Phase One, the natural grass infield and pitching mound, as well as the bullpen mounds, were replaced with Astroturf, and improvements were made to the infield drainage system, and ADA accessibility and seating.  New landscaping and fencing around the infield, backstop wall and netting systems, were installed.
 
Fundraising for the second phase of the project is ongoing with more information available here (click Baseball Stadium on the drop down menu under Click Here to Search Available Designations).  
 
-- NIU --
 
Twitter: @NIUAthletics
Facebook: NIU Huskies
Instagram: niuhuskies
YouTube: NIU Athletics