University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Dedicate Perkins Family Performance Center
5/3/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
MINNEAPOLIS - This Friday, May 4, Gopher Baseball will honor alum Glen Perkins and his family for their significant financial investment in both Siebert Field and the indoor training center connected to the park with the naming of the Glen Perkins Family Baseball Performance Center.
"On behalf of the Golden Gopher Baseball program, I want to say thank you to Glen and Alisha Perkins for their generous and inspiring gift, allowing us to build a state-of-the-art performance center at Siebert Field," said Head Coach John Anderson. "Glen remains one of the all-time Gopher greats and his willingness to give back in such a significant manner will allow future teams to stay competitive at the Big Ten and NCAA level. Since it opened in March 2016, the Baseball Performance Center has provided an incredible, year-round experience for our players to develop their baseball skills in an awesome facility."
The Glen Perkins Family Baseball Performance Center is an indoor training space built onto the existing structure of Siebert Field. With three large doors facing the field's concourse, the facility can be open during the warmer months, but closed to maintain a comfortable temperature throughout the winter. Inside, student-athletes have access to three batting tunnels, a video review system and a team meeting space.
"One of the things that makes Gopher Baseball so successful is the tremendous involvement and generosity of our alumni. Glen and his family are at the top of that list," said Athletics Director Mark Coyle. "We're proud to be a broad-based athletics department with many successful programs. That type of success is only sustainable when you have people like the Perkins family that are willing to invest in their favorite programs. We are very appreciative of their support."
Perkins was a standout high school baseball player at Stillwater (Minn.) High School before coming to play for the Gophers in the 2003 season. He posted a 19-5 record over the next two years with a 2.87 ERA and 230 strikeouts. That performance drew the attention of big league front offices, including the Minnesota Twins, who drafted Perkins 22nd overall in the 2004 draft. Perkins went on to play 12 years for the Twins, becoming a three-time All-Star (2013, '14, and '15).
"I'm honored to have the University of Minnesota baseball team put my family's name on the Baseball Performance Center," said Perkins. "While it will have the Perkins name, it is as much about the people that helped get me to this point and is a testament to their hard work."
The Perkins family will be on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Siebert Field on Friday evening before Minnesota takes on Indiana in the opening game of the teams' Big Ten Conference series. Prior to first pitch, there will also be a brief dedication ceremony to celebrate the renaming of the performance center.
First pitch between the Gophers and Hoosiers is set for just after 6:30 p.m.