In 1900 about 625 students attended the State Agricultural College, commonly known as M.A.C. The schools was the precursor to Michigan State University. Making a new commitment to serious intercollegiate athletic competition, the college purchased land here, along the Red Cedar River, for an athletic field. Intramural sports had been a part of M.A.C. life since its founding in 1855; however contests with other institutions did not begin until 1884. On April 18, 1902, the M.A.C. Aggies baseball team met the University of Michigan Wolverines in the first baseball game held on this site. The new venue had baseball and football fields, circular and straight tracks, and, later, lights and a grandstand. In 1923 footbal moved south to a new stadium, but baseball remained at College Field.
College Field opened in 1902 as the primary sports venue for “the Aggies” of the State Agricultural College. Some sports relocated, but baseball remained here and was later joined by softball and soccer. In 1925 the School became the Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences, prompting the change in the team name from Aggies to Spartans. Two men stand out in the history of College Field and Aggie/Spartan sports. Lyman Frimodig (1891-1972) played baseball and football here, earning a record-setting ten letters in three sports. He spent over forty years with the athletic department, serving for a time as the athletic director. John Kobs (1898-1968) coached Spartan baseball for nearly forty years and captured the Big Ten title in 1954. In 1969 the baseball field was named in his honor.
Source : College Field Michigan Historical Marker
According to Jack Seibold’s Spartan Sports Encyclopedia: A History of the Michigan State Men’s Athletic Program (Champaign, IL : SportsPublishing, c2003.), although the MAC team played in brand new green-and-gray uniforms for the occasion, the visiting Michigan Wolverines were not impressed, easily winning 20-2.