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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas is playing in the Round Rock Classic this season, but will return to Arlington for the State Farm College Baseball Showdown each of the next two years, head coach Dave Van Horn announced to the Swatter’s Club on Monday.
After participating in the event’s debut in 2021, the Razorbacks will face a trio of Big 12 opponents - Texas, TCU and Oklahoma State - there next season and a more national field of Michigan, Oklahoma State and Oregon State in 2024.
The headliner in that group is likely the matchup with Oregon State in 2024, as it will be a rematch of the 2018 College World Series finals that Arkansas lost in heartbreaking fashion.
If it’s up to Van Horn, playing in this event - which is hosted at Globe Life Field, the home of the Texas Rangers - will become an annual tradition for the Razorbacks.
“I just think that’s a good trip for us,” Van Horn said. “It’s not too far, our fans can get there, we have a lot of fans in the great state of Texas down there that follow us. Last year, I think we played in front of 13,000 and 18,000 pretty much every day in those three games and there was limited crowds.
“It’ll be something that if I have a choice, I would like to take the team to Arlington every year and I know they want us.”
Last season, the Showdown featured six top-10 teams, all of which went on to be top-12 national seeds in the NCAA Tournament: No. 1 Arkansas, No. 2 Texas, No. 6 TCU, No. 7 Mississippi State, No. 8 Texas Tech and No. 12 Ole Miss.
Here are several other tidbits from Van Horn’s virtual meeting with the Swatter’s Club earlier this week…
2022 Home Schedule
After facing them on the road last season, Arkansas will welcome SEC West foes Mississippi State (April 1-3), LSU (April 14-16) and Ole Miss (April 29-May 1) to Baum-Walker Stadium in 2022.
The Razorbacks’ other two home conference series are against Kentucky (March 18-20) to open up SEC play and Vanderbilt (May 13-15) in the regular-season’s penultimate series.
Four of those squads - all but the Wildcats - are ranked in the top eight of the Rivals Preseason Composite Poll.
“I think that we could definitely have some record crowds,” Van Horn said. “Obviously we’ve got to play well and back it up, but I think it’s a great schedule for our fans here this year.”
