Louisville Baseball Planning Upgrades to Hitting and Pitching Facilities

It appears that some much-needed additional upgrades to the Louisville baseball program's facilities could soon be on the way.

Speaking with 93.9 The Ville just one day removed from the end of their 2025 season, head coach Dan McDonnell revealed Thursday that the program has plans to convert their current hitting facility - the Shad Mason Hack Shack - into a pitching lab, and that he has started reaching out to former players to get fundraising efforts started.

"The Shad Mason Hack Shack is awesome, but that needs to be renovated," McDonnell told 93.9 The Ville's Drew Deener. "We need to gut that out, and we're trying to make that a pitching facility.

"That's where I'm trying to get Chad Green and maybe all the former pitchers, whether you're a big league pitcher or you were a good college pitcher. If you're part of our program, and you pitched at the University of Louisville, I would love for them to start up and say, 'Guys, let's do our part.' Because you got to keep up with technology. You got to put in cameras, you got to put in the latest and greatest stuff, so your kids feel like they're developing."

Additionally, McDonnell also revealed that not only are there plans in motion to build an indoor hitting facility right next to the Hack Shack, but that former UofL catcher and current Los Angeles star Will Smith has already donated an undisclosed amount of money to get the fundraising started.

"Will Smith gave the lead gift to build a new indoor hitting facility right next to where the Hack Shack is," he said "Where our bullpen is and that turf pad, we do have some some plans to build an indoor hitting facility."

While McDonnell didn't give a timeline as to when these facilities would be completed, he believes that, with the proper fundraising, it could be finished as soon as next year.

"It's going to take a collection of people to build this indoor facility, but it's something that that you could get done within a year."

These upgrades for Louisville have been due for a long time. The Shad Mason Hack Shack has remained mostly unchanged since it was built alongside Jim Patterson Stadium in 2005, and the Cardinals do not have a dedicated pitching lab like many other programs in the ACC do.

In 2020, Louisville announced plans to construct a massive indoor practice facility just beyond the left field area of Jim Patterson Stadium. They had even secured a $3 million donation for the estimated $12 million price tag, and had hoped to break ground in 2022. However, these plans never materialized.

Following the end of the 2023 season, McDonnell called out UofL's administration for their perceived lack of efforts towards improving their facilities. A week later, AD Josh Heird said that he and McDonnell had touched base "on a number of topics," and that he is indeed "committed" to helping improve and advance the baseball program and its facilities.

Soon afterwards, various upgrades began to take place. The $3 million donation was reallocated to upgrade Jim Patterson Stadium's training room, workout areas, dugouts and overall aesthetics. Then, with the help of former UofL catcher and No. 1 overall pick Henry Davis, the Cardinals unveiled a brand new locker room ahead of the 2024 season.

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