Fielding ground balls can be tough, especially when the ball is rolling on dirt. For the ULM softball team, a dirt in eld will be a thing of the past.

A donation valued at $175,000 from Geo-Surfaces will bring a new artificial turf surface to the ULM softball complex in eld.

Athletic Director Brian Wickstrom said the turf eld is part of the university’s way of improving the athletic program.

Most people may think this new turf surface is that of any ordinary football eld, but Geo-Surfaces has a specific softball skin surface that acts like clay.

The Warhawks are not the only lucky members of this new surface technology.Geo-Surfaces will make ULM

only the third NCAA Division-I softball eld with a turf in eld, joining their neighbors down the road, Louisiana Tech and to the north, Central Arkansas.

Charles Dawson, CEO of Geo-Surfaces, says he’s looking forward to what his company can do for the ULM softball program.

“He (Wickstrom) told a great story, and I felt compelled to commit to the program. I am honored to be able to meet a need for the student-athletes,” Dawson said.

The new turf will feature technology that allows the eld to drain when Mother Nature has her say on games. A new turf eld along with some new faces in the dugout gives the ULM softball team an anticipated look

ahead to their 2017 season this spring.