Tony Gwynn Stadium became the new home of the San Diego State baseball program during the 1997 season. Upon its opening, Baseball America ranked Tony Gwynn Stadium as the fifth-best collegiate facility in the nation and the second-best park in the western half of the nation.
Groundbreaking for this project took place on August 21, 1996. The $4 million facility was made possible through the generosity of former San Diego Padres owner John Moores and his wife Becky, who donated the funds to make former Aztec head coach Jim Dietz's dream of a state-of-the-art stadium at SDSU a reality.
The structure is named in honor of the former Aztec player, head coach and MLB Hall of Famer. The playing field remains Charlie Smith Field in honor of the long-time former San Diego State head coach. It retains its former dimensions of 340 feet down the left field line, 340 feet down the right field line, and 412 to dead center field. Distance to the power alleys is 365 feet.
Additional area has been added between home plate and the backstop (now 45 feet), and the warning track in the outfield has been widened to 20 feet. The field itself is a natural turf (Tif Santa Ana grass), while the infield and warning track utilize crushed brick dust.
The most recent field improvement consists of artificial field turf that extends from the end of each dugout in foul territory outside the base lines. The turf was installed prior to the start of the 2010 season. In addition, a large Aztec logo now occupies the area directly behind home plate.
The playing field is enclosed by a 10-foot high green wall made of a modern material designed to be resilient upon contact. The outfield wall features advertising signage as well as a panel chronicling SDSU's appearances in the NCAA Regionals. Beyond the right-field fence are three larger banners honoring former Aztec legends Stephen Strasburg, Tony Gwynn and Travis Lee.
Stadium lighting consists of six poles using 2000-watt fixtures, making the facility one of the most well-lit fields in college and professional baseball.
The stadium's new electronic videoboard, installed prior to the start of the 2023 season, is located behind the right centerfield fence and features a complete line score as well as video playback capability.
Seating capacity of the stadium is 3,000, and that number could reach as high as 4,000 in the future. Of the 2,200 permanent seats installed during the initial phase of construction, 800 were armchair-style around the stadium at the field level. With the addition of new seating in May 2005, that number has increased to over 1,800, as more than 1,000 chair back seats were installed in the plaza level from first to third base. The remaining seats are comprised of bleacher benches that extend down both base lines.
Among the amenities contained within the stadium itself are the following:
- Two concession stands and two sets of restrooms located behind the seating area on the plaza level. There is also a novelty/souvenir shop located on the outer concourse, featuring SDSU merchandise.
- A coaches dressing room and adjacent players' meeting room located at the east end of the first base stands to be used for team functions as well as a lounge for SDSU athletes
- The Stephen and Mary Birch Baseball Museum located at the north end of the third base stand. The museum features numerous items relating to the history of baseball at San Diego State.
- Home and visiting team locker rooms with shower facilities. There is also an umpires dressing room for officials to use before and after games.
- A training room with a Jacuzzi and dry sauna.
- An equipment room with storage space for uniforms, baseballs, bats and other items.
- A modern press box with booths for radio and television. A state-of-the-art public address system is operated from the press box as well as the stadium scoreboard. A hydraulic elevator is available to take media and VIPs from ground level to the press box.
- Four sky boxes adjacent to the press box for visiting dignitaries and groups to view games.
- There is a players lounge near the elevator on the ground floor that serves as a reception area and hosts various functions. The room has been provided through the generosity of former Aztec pitcher Bud Black and his wife, Nan, who oversaw much of the work on the project herself.
- Covered sunken team dugouts with tunnels adjacent to each that lead to the team locker rooms.
- Two large batting/pitching cages located down the left and right field lines. Each cage has space for two indoor batting practice areas or may be used as a bull pen with two mounds during games. An auxiliary batting cage/storage building has been constructed down the right field. All of these cages are fully lit for night use. In addition, a new outdoor bullpen was installed down the left field line just prior to the 2004 season.
- A barbecue/picnic area is available between the end of the permanent stands and the batting cage structures down right field line. This area is available for special events and group outings.
- A Ticket Trailer is located behind the stadium along the first base side to serve fans' needs at all games.
Top 10 Crowds at Tony Gwynn Stadium
Attendance Score Date 3,337 San Diego State 5, Air Force 0 May 8, 2009 3,072 San Diego State 4, TCU 3 April 24, 2009 2,857 Texas 9, San Diego State 3 Feb. 4, 2005 2,353 Texas 13, San Diego State 5 Feb. 5, 2005 2,102 San Diego State 4, UNLV 3 March 13, 2009 2,032 Brigham Young 4, San Diego State 2 March 20, 2009 1,788 Utah 2, San Diego State 1 April 27, 2002 1,748 USC 11, San Diego State 5 Feb. 23, 2020 1,738 San Diego State 6, Oregon State 0 Feb. 29, 2020 1,682 San Diego State 8, UC Santa Barbara 4 Feb. 17, 2018