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Construction continues on UL's indoor practice facility located in the middle of the athletic complex, one that will provide shelter from inclement weather for all of the Cajuns' outdoor teams.
The facility will have a 120-yard turf field for football use, but will also have equipment to allow baseball and softball to take advantage of the controlled conditions.
"It's going to have drop-down cages and indoor portable mounds," said UL baseball coach Tony Robichaux. "We'll be able to take ground balls and fly balls, we can do base running and hitting drills, and off the portable mounds we'll be able to throw live to hitters. The weather will never stop us once it's finished."
The building's superstructure is basically completed, and the "skin" will start going up in the near future.
Indoor facilities are much more prevalent in northern climates, and coaches at schools located out of the south say they're a godsend.
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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com
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"We're fortunate that we have an incredible indoor facility," said Purdue softball coach Kim Maher, who will bring her team south to face UL in mid-February. "We can go in there and hit live, we can have full infield and outfield. The only down side is that we probably won't get on dirt until our first game."
Illinois, which visits the Cajuns for a three-game baseball series Feb. 23-25, also has a turfed indoor football facility which is used by the baseball team in late fall and early spring. Illini coach Dan Hartleb said his team also makes use of Illinois' artificial-turf football field.
"With that synthetic surface, when there's decent weather we can get out there some and do some scrimmage things," Hartleb said. "We get a lot accomplished indoors and spend a lot of time on drill work, but indoors can give you a false sense of security.
"It helps so much with perspective, seeing the ball in the air, when you can get outside. It is different, with high skies and depth perception, once you go outside. But we should still be able to throw strikes and hit the ball, since those are things we can do on a daily basis."
"There's an adjustment period when you go outside after being indoors," Maher said. "On turf the ball's incredibly fast. On dirt you have to slow it down a little. I think that's why we take our knocks in our first couple of games."
Hartleb said he doesn't allow his team to use poor weather or being forced inside as a crutch.
"There are some differences in playing in the south, but there are no excuses," he said. "You have to find a way to go out and win. All I hope is that the weather gets better there on the Thursday we show up."
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