The Friends University played this year's first home baseball match at Lawrence-Dumont stadium against Briar Cliff University in doubleheaders on Feb. 23 and 24.

Last month, the university signed a three-year lease with Lawrence Dumont stadium to play around 30 home baseball games this season as it doesn't have its own baseball field on campus.

"The venue provides Friends University with a facility conducive to many needs," said Athletic Director Joe Zimmerman. "Not only for baseball, but also as a venue that allows us to engage individuals or groups in a setting that is warm and inviting. This move also addresses one of our institutional goals in partnership with the Delano community."

Zimmerman said that the stadium is very favourable to collegiate baseball as it provides all the required facilities such as a synthetic playing field, climate controlled locker rooms, batting cages, athletic training facilities and a press box.

As a result, the university is planning to extend its contract with Lawrence Dumont at the end of the three year term.

In the past years, the university played its home games at West Side Athletic Field, 571 N. McLean Blvd. However, it will continue to use this facility for junior varsity practice and games.

The stadium is set to feature only Friends University's home baseball matches for the next couple of months as its main tenant, Wichita Wingnuts, a professional baseball team from Kansas, does not begin its season until May.

Wingnuts' General Manager, Josh Robertson, told Biz Journal that Friends' baseball schedule is planned out in such a way that there will not be any confusion or overlap in the two teams' seasons.

In addition to both these teams, the stadium also hosts the National Baseball Congress Tournament, the NJCAA Region IX tournament, various high school games and certain showcase tournaments throughout the year.