DeKALB –  NIU to claim Ralph McKinzie Field at Walt and Janice Owens Park as NIU baseball’s home in honor of late NIU coach, faculty member Walt Owens.

There will be a ceremony to dedicate the name change at 11:15 a.m. on Sunday. The ceremony will be held in the tent behind the first base dugout and is open to the public. 

Janice Owens will speak along with NIU President Lisa Freeman, former Board of Trustees chair Wheeler Coleman, NIU Vice President Beth Ingram and NIU baseball head coach Mike Kunigonis.

Owens, better known as “Coach O”, started as an assistant coach for NIU men’s basketball before becoming the head baseball coach from 1976-82. Owens finished his NIU career as a professor and faculty member between 1973-2007. 

“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.,” NIU Athletic Director Sean Frazier said in an NIU Athletics press release. “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.”

Along with a name change, astroturf was installed at Ralph McKinzie Field at Walt and Janice Owens Park along with a new drainage system and easier access to seating. Netting systems, landscaping and fencing around the infield were also added.