Arlington trips planned for years to come

In this March 31, 2020, file photo, a statue of Nolan Ryan stands in the empty plaza outside Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News via AP, Pool, File)

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Arkansas Razorbacks will play at Globe Life Field for the second time in three seasons this weekend when they participate in the College Baseball Showdown.

They plan to return year after year. 

Arkansas has agreements in place to play games at the Texas Rangers’ home ballpark through at least the 2026 season, REV Entertainment vice president Jared Schrom said in September.

“I’ll go every year as long as I’m here,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said last month. 

The Razorbacks greatly enjoyed their first trip to Globe Life Field two years ago when they won three games at the inaugural College Baseball Showdown. 

“It was first class and we stayed in a really good place,” Van Horn said. “The players loved it. We all loved it right there. You can walk and go watch the other games that are going on. There’s food right there, so that logistically is nice, but it’s really the facility, which is amazing.” 

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Less than a month after the Razorbacks played in Arlington in 2021, Schrom and REV president Shawn Decker traveled to Fayetteville and met with Van Horn in his office. They asked if Arkansas would be interested in having an annual presence at the ballpark. 

“The goal for us from Day 1 was to have the best programs play at Globe Life Field,” Schrom said last year. “Arkansas is just that. We love having them down here because of the level of baseball that they play.

“But beyond that, I mean DFW just has such a strong following for Arkansas. The alumni base, the fans — it’s easy for them to get here. So between the alumni locally and the folks traveling from Fayetteville, it’s kind of a no-brainer.”

Van Horn could not commit for a return in 2022 because the Razorbacks were already in agreement to play games at the Round Rock Classic near Austin. The weather was brutal for those three games, which included a doubleheader in near-freezing conditions on the final day due to poor field conditions the day before. 

“(In Arlington) if the weather is not good, you’ve got a roof,” Van Horn said of the Rangers’ stadium that has a retractable roof. “I coached in Nebraska five years and I don’t know if I’ve ever been that cold as Round Rock. It was unbelievable. That made us tougher, but I was worried about guys getting hurt.” 

Van Horn said the Razorbacks’ opponents next year in Arlington will be Oklahoma State, Oregon State and Michigan. 

Games in future years might not necessarily be part of the six-team College Baseball Showdown on the first weekend of the season. Schrom said last fall that the Rangers are exploring the potential for hosting additional early season college baseball events.

“Listen, anytime Arkansas wants to come down here, we’d certainly love to have them, and so we’ve worked to develop that relationship and find opportunities for those guys to come down here,” Schrom said. “We love college baseball and we love the game of college baseball, so we’ve kind of designated February…to try and get some great matchups.

“It gives us additional opportunities to get other schools that want to come down here that don’t necessarily want to participate on Opening Weekend. It opened up opportunities with Arkansas coming Weekend 2 or Weekend 3 down the road. We want to get them down here whenever they want to come.”

Unlike two years ago, full capacity of up to 40,300 will be allowed for the College Baseball Showdown. While a crowd that size is highly unlikely, one in excess of 20,000 would not surprise for a big matchup like the one Friday night between the Razorbacks and the Texas Longhorns

Crowd sizes were limited to around 15,000 in 2021. Van Horn and Texas coach David Pierce said they expect a raucous crowd for their first game. 

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“It’s going to be electric,” Pierce said. “I really believe that the fan base is so ready for college baseball, and being at an indoor event you know they’re going to show up. 

“You’ve got two really good teams that are great and that have great history, so it’s going to attract a lot of people — not just people from Fayetteville or Austin, but just college baseball fans.”