Jack Critchfield Park

Locating Jack Critchfield Park

• Campus Map

• Jack Critchfield Park On Google Maps

Driving Directions

• From I-79, take Exit 105 (Slippery Rock). Turn left at the stop sign at the end of the exit ramp and follow State Route 108 north into Slippery Rock. At the traffic light, turn right onto Main Street. Follow Main Street to the second traffic light (Keister Road). Turn left onto Keister Road and proceed to the flashing light, where you will see a main entrance to campus.

• Turn left at the flashing light and go onto the SRU campus. At the dead end, turn right. Proceed past the East Lake Parking Lot to Stadium Drive. Turn right onto Stadium Drive. Jack Critchfield Park is ahead of you on the right side of the road, adjacent to the Aebersold Student Recreation Center. Parking is available in several locations adjacent to Critchfield Park.

Jack Critchfield Park Quick Facts

• Opened: 2002

• Sports: Baseball

• Capacity: 1,500

• Admission: Free

• Infield Surface: Artificial (AstroTurf)

• Outfield Surface: Artificial (AstroTurf)

• Dimensions: 315 (LF), 400 (CF), 315 (RF)

Messer Field at Jack Critchfield Park, one of the finest on-campus baseball facilities in the country, is the home of the nationally recognized Slippery Rock University baseball program and underwent a major renovation in the spring of 2020 with the addition of an artificial playing surface that will allow the team to practice and play more games during the wet early spring months of the season.

Grand opening ceremonies for “The Jack” were held on April 20, 2002. The event attracted 1,256 fans, which at the time was the second largest crowd to attend an NCAA Division II regular-season baseball game. Over the last 16 years Slippery Rock has enjoyed its home-field advantage with an impressive 187-105 (.640) record.

Jack Critchfield Park is named in honor of Dr. Jack Critchfield, a 1955 Rock graduate and former Rock baseball pitcher. Dr. Critchfield and his wife, Mary, in appreciation for the opportunity he received to attend college, made a $500,000 donation to the University in May 2000. That donation initiated the project that culminated in the construction of the state-of-the-art on-campus baseball facility that bears his name.

The park originally featured the same infield dirt as many Major League Baseball stadiums. The compound created by Dura Edge, a company based in Slippery Rock, was installed as the field surface for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Boston Red Sox and many other MLB franchises.

Slippery Rock players and coaches enjoy the comforts of a luxurious clubhouse that feeds directly into the home dugout.

The stadium seats 1,500 people in the chairback and bleacher seats, many of which are covered, while also allowing extra seating on the grassy hillside and in a pavilion down the left field line.

The stadium also features covered batting cages, a press box area that is equipped with wireless internet, indoor restrooms and concession stands.

SRU baseball head coach Jeff Messer

The council approved to name the playing field at Jack Critchfield Park as “Messer Field” in recognition of pledged philanthropic support of the SRU baseball team by alumni and friends to honor Messer. The field and stadium collectively is now named “Messer Field at Jack Critchfield Park.”

Alumni from the baseball team have embarked on a $100,000 fundraising campaign in support of the Messer Field Naming project that will support the program and its student athletes.