Cliff Hagan Stadium is a baseball stadium in Lexington, Kentucky. It was the home field of the University of Kentucky Wildcatscollege baseball team from 1969 through 2018. The stadium, which held 3,000 at its closure, was part of the Bernie A. Shively Sports Center, which also includes the school's track and field facilities in an adjacent stadium. The stadium was renamed in 1993 in honor of Cliff Hagan, the Basketball Hall of Famer who had played at Kentucky during the 1950s under Adolph Rupp and returned to Kentucky as athletic director after his professional basketball playing days. It was extensively renovated in 2002. Following its final 2018 season, while construction was ongoing on its nearby replacement, it was used for UK baseballsummer camps. In the wake of the Wildcats' surprising success in the 2006 season, which saw them win a regular-season Southeastern Conference title for the first time in over 30 years, coach John Cohen was signed to a five-year contract extension. A clause in the contract commits the university to either renovating or replacing the stadium. If construction on a new or renovated stadium does not start in 2008 or sooner, Cohen was free to walk away from the contract without a financial penalty. However, Cohen left the program at the end of the 2008 season for his alma materMississippi State, where he is now athletic director. His assistant Gary Henderson was then given the head coaching job. In 2013, the Wildcats ranked 37th among Division I baseball programs in attendance, averaging 1,893 per home game. On October 21, 2016, Kentucky announced plans to build a new baseball park across Alumni Drive from the UK Arboretum, with seating for 2,400 and additional temporary bleacher and berm seating to raise capacity to as much as 6,000. The stadium, named Kentucky Proud Park, opened in the fall of 2018 in advance of the 2019 season. UK is considering building a new tennis complex on the Cliff Hagan Stadium site once the new ballpark opens.
