As Baum-Walker Stadium nears its 25th anniversary, we take a look back at 25 of the stadium’s most memorable times.
April 13, 1996: Arkansas swept a doubleheader against Auburn by scores of 9-2 and 9-6 — the first two games played at what was known then as Baum Stadium. The attendance for the doubleheader was 3,328, easily eclipsing the previous home record set at the Razorbacks’ old ballpark, George Cole Field.
March 4, 1997: Ryan Lundquist hit 3 home runs and recorded a school-record 9 RBI in the Razorbacks’ 22-6 victory over Central Missouri State. Lundquist’s 15 total bases also set a school record.
Feb. 20, 1998: Arkansas defeated Eastern Illinois 16-0 to give Norm DeBriyn his 1,000th victory as the Razorbacks’ coach. DeBriyn retired four years later with 1,161 victories in 33 seasons.
March 8, 1998: Arkansas scored 11 runs in the final inning to defeat South Carolina 17-16 as snow fell and the wind chill dipped to 14 degrees. Eric Hinske scored the game-winning run on a sacrifice fly by Brent Caldwell. The Gamecocks committed five errors in the final inning.
March 21, 1999: Rodney Nye scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Arkansas a 7-6 victory over LSU in the finale of the Razorbacks’ first series victory over the Tigers since joining the SEC. Arkansas was 14-1 against SEC teams at home that season and won the league for the first time.
May 28-29, 1999: In the first NCAA regional hosted by Arkansas, the Razorbacks defeated Delaware in the opening game behind a complete game from David Walling, but lost to Missouri State and Clemson on the second day and were eliminated. Arkansas was one strike from defeating Missouri State when All-American Matt Cepicky hit a home run to tie the game in the ninth inning, and the Bears won in extras.
March 14-15, 2000: Coached by Dave Van Horn, Nebraska defeated Arkansas by scores of 10-4 and 10-3 during a two-game series. Van Horn replaced Arkansas coach Norm DeBriyn, his mentor, two years later.
May 6-7, 2000: Following a series-opening loss, Arkansas defeated South Carolina 11-10 and 9-3 to take the series from the No. 1 Gamecocks. The Razorbacks’ Game 2 victory snapped South Carolina’s 21-game win streak.
May 4-6, 2001: Arkansas swept No. 1 LSU in the final home series of a season during which the Razorbacks finished with a losing overall record. It was the first time the Tigers had been swept by an SEC team in more than five years, a span of 56 series.
May 19, 2002: The Razorbacks defeated Auburn 4-1 on the final day of the regular season to qualify for the SEC Tournament. Arkansas won a game at the SEC Tournament to help qualify for the NCAA postseason, then won a regional at Wichita State and a super regional game at Clemson in Norm DeBriyn’s final season.
June 6, 2004: On perhaps the stadium’s most memorable day, Arkansas catcher Brady Toops hit a two-out grand slam in the top of the ninth inning to give the Razorbacks an 11-9 victory over Wichita State in an NCAA regional game. When the teams met in a winner-take-all game later that afternoon, Arkansas pitcher Charley Boyce threw 104 pitches one day after throwing 99, and the Razorbacks eliminated the Shockers with a 4-3 victory.
June 11-12, 2004: The Razorbacks defeated Florida State 7-5 and 4-2 to sweep the first super regional played at the stadium. The two-game attendance of 19,365 signaled increased fan support and the need for a major stadium overhaul.
March 23, 2007: Billed as a pitcher’s duel between two first-round draft picks, Arkansas’ Nick Schmidt and Vanderbilt’s David Price went well into the game but weren’t dominant. The game ended with Arkansas’ Sean Jones tagging from second base and scoring on a sacrifice fly by Logan Forsythe to give the Razorbacks an 8-7 victory. Arkansas won the series 2-1 over the top-ranked Commodores.
May 9, 2008: Jacob House hit a two-out grand slam in the ninth inning to give the Razorbacks a 12-11 victory over South Carolina on a designated fireworks night, and fireworks went off as House rounded the bases. Arkansas trailed by six runs at one point during the game.
April 7-8, 2009: Arkansas defeated Arizona State 7-3 and 8-7 during a power-packed midweek series between teams that were ranked No. 1 in separate national polls. A crowd of 11,014 attended the second game, a record for an Arkansas regular-season nonconference game. The Razorbacks and Sun Devils nearly met again in the national championship series, but both teams were eliminated in the College World Series semifinals.
April 4, 2010: Collin Kuhn hit a two-out grand slam to give Arkansas a 17-16 win over Kentucky in a wild game on Easter Sunday. Arkansas scored 13 consecutive runs after Kentucky took a 5-0 lead, but the Wildcats countered with 11 straight runs to take a 16-13 lead into the final inning. Kuhn’s mother, who was battling cancer, was in the stands after traveling from Wisconsin.
April 7, 2010: The Razorbacks scored 14 runs in the first inning of a 32-8 victory over Saint Louis that was called off midway through the seventh inning. Arkansas’ first 12 batters reached base.
June 4, 2010: Four Arkansas players combined to hit a school-record nine home runs during a 19-8 victory over Grambling State in the opener of an NCAA regional. Brett Eibner hit three home runs, and Collin Kuhn, Zack Cox and Andy Wilkins hit two home runs apiece for the Razorbacks.
April 9, 2011: James McCann’s three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning gave Arkansas a 4-3 victory over LSU in a game that was scoreless after eight innings. The crowd of 11,103 was a record for an Arkansas regular-season home game.
March 16, 2012: Arkansas left fielder Matt Vinson made quite possibly the most memorable defensive play in the stadium’s history when he scaled the chain fence in front of the Razorbacks’ bullpen, stood on the padding and caught what would have been a home run hit by Alabama’s Josh Rosecrans. “I don’t know if I’ve seen a better one,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said of the catch after the game, which the Razorbacks won 4-3 in extra innings.
June 5-7, 2015: Arkansas took two of three NCAA super regional games from regional rival Missouri State, clinching a College World Series berth with a 3-1 victory in the final game. The Razorbacks hosted the super regional because the Bears — a top-eight national seed — had a scheduling conflict at the home ballpark they share with a minor league team. The three-game attendance of 35,780 was a record for a single weekend at the stadium.
June 4-5, 2017: Following a rain-delayed victory over Oral Roberts earlier in the day, Arkansas staved off elimination at its home NCAA regional with an 11-10 victory over Missouri State that lasted six hours, was played at times in heavy rain and didn’t end until 3:10 a.m. Jared Gates’ two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning — at 2:52 a.m. — turned out to be the winning run. The Bears got revenge later that night with a 3-2 victory to advance to the super regionals.
March 16-17, 2018: The Razorbacks hit 13 home runs during a three-game sweep of No. 4 Kentucky, including 10 home runs during a Saturday doubleheader that also included an 8-inning gem by Arkansas pitcher Isaiah Campbell.
June 9-11, 2018: Arkansas took two of three games over South Carolina during an NCAA super regional — the Razorbacks’ first super regional against a conference opponent. Arkansas won the finale 14-4 to cap a program-best 34-4 home campaign.
June 10, 2019: Similar to the year before, Arkansas clinched a trip to Omaha with a blowout win over an SEC team in Game 3 of a super regional — 14-1 over Ole Miss. Relief pitcher Cody Scroggins was the game’s MVP when he threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings after inheriting two base runners and a 1-0 deficit in the second inning.
This story originally appeared in Hawgs Illustrated