Nobody is expecting ideal playing conditions this afternoon when Missouri Western takes on Nebraska-Omaha in the Griffons' delayed opening to their home schedule.

After what has gone on the past two weeks, they're just happy to be playing.

With the construction going on around Phil Welch Stadium, everyone expected some inconveniences, but things went from inconvenient to downright problematic two weekends ago when an electrical subcontractor, putting finishing touches on the new lighting system, got a crane stuck in right field.

Griffons assistant coach Brandon Freeborn saw the incident.

"They drove it directly through that area, got stuck and they had to bring out an 18-wheeler tow truck to pull it out," Freeborn said, explaining that the incident occurred the Friday following a significant snowfall in the area. "Imagine what kind of weight that was, after 5 inches of snow and melting. There were some pretty good-sized ruts all the way throughout the entire area."

St. Joseph city crews have assisted by bringing in clay dirt. The material has been rolled, aerated and rolled some more, and although the field is expected to be playable, it's far from ideal or attractive.

"It's pretty rough out there," Freeborn said. "It's like a road. It ain't a baseball field."

St. Joe Mustangs owner Dan Gerson has expressed disappointment in the incident, but he has been pleased with the city's response as well as the work of general contractor Bruner & Associates in getting the renovations wrapped up as quickly as possible.

Western baseball coach Buzz Verduzco said he's just happy to be getting the opportunity to play on his home field, after having last week's series against Washburn moved to Topeka, Kan., because of unplayable conditions.

And today's twin bill might not have been possible without the work of the father of one of his players.

Mike Hebrard, father of junior pitcher Andy Hebrard, already had heard about the field troubles from talking with Verduzco. And since he had planned a trip to St. Joseph to see his son play today anyway, the elder Hebrard was ready to pick up the tools of his trade nearly as soon as he arrived Friday evening.

Hebrard knows a few things about playing fields. He is owner of Athletic Field Design in suburban Portland, Ore., and is the official groundskeeper of the Softball Little League World Series. Hebrard has concentrated on the infield - which also sustained some damage - freeing up the city and the university to concentrate on the bigger issues in the outfield.

"I haven't stopped since I got down here," said Hebrard, who worked 10 hours on the field Monday and returned at 9 a.m. Tuesday, only to work well past the time Western's players left the field after practice Tuesday evening.

"Someone drove across the infield," Hebrard complained. "I have always wanted to make these T-shirts that say, 'The infield is not a shortcut to the other side of the field.' Unless you're pitching or working out there on the field, there's no reason to go across there."

Hebrard is donating his time, saying "This is all dad." He has lowered the lip at the edge of the infield and built up the basepaths. Today, he plans to paint a logo behind the home plate area in time for the 4 p.m. doubleheader. He will be using the stencil he created for the team when he visited last fall.

Nobody expects things to be perfect. There will be no scoreboard available because an electrical line was cut during all the trenching and digging in the outfield. The warning track as of Tuesday evening was a rough mound of dirt that will be filled and rolled today, with the actual creation of the warning track expected to be completed during the team's next road trip.

But the Griffons will be playing at home, and Verduzco is happy about that.

"There's still a couple of things we can do (this) morning, to kind of get it ready," Verduzco said. "It's not going to be the best playing conditions, but ti's a home game, and that's what we're excited for.

"But we've got to get used to our own field again," Verduzco said.

Sports reporter Rick Dunaway can be

reached at rickd@npgco.com