Vanderbilt marks next step of Hawkins Field renovations in topping out ceremony

Vanderbilt is one step closer to completing its ongoing renovations at Hawkins Field.Commodores athletic director Candice Lee had a smile plastered wide across her face as she took to the stage in the outfield on June 16, with longtime baseball coach Tim Corbin and vice chancellor for development and alumni relations John Lutz looking on from the crowd.The trio helped mark the latest milestone in construction during a steel beam topping out ceremony, which signaled the completion of the project’s structural framework."

If we invest in each of our programs in a way that gives our student athletes and coaches the resources they need to compete, we can win championships while also holding fast to our values ...." Lee said. "We recognize our ideals being reflected back at us and we appreciate excellence earned on our terms.

We should always support that. We will always support that, starting with this remarkable facility that's starting to take shape."Vanderbilt first announced its plans for renovations to the stadium in 2023 and later began construction in October 2025.

Planned upgrades to the stadium include expanded seating capacity and premium seating in the outfield, expanded concessions, a new weight room and a pitching lab.Corbin didn't want to simply improve the stadium with renovations, he wanted to turn Hawkins Field into a destination."My thoughts to them (were) simple, and it was we don't want this to look like any other ballpark in our conference," Corbin said at the ceremony.

"Because there are a lot of nice ballparks in our conference, but a lot of them look the same. And we didn't want this one to look the same.""We almost want this to look like a theater, so when people come in, they look at it, they're a part of it, they go, 'This is different.'

"This past season the Commodores went 33-25, with the season coming to a close in the second round of the SEC Tournament with a loss to Florida. While home games were played at Hawkins Field, despite constructio