Nate Allen

FAYETTEVILLE - Long an advocate of the Razorbacks athletically competing against instate schools, Arkansas Baseball Coach Dave Van Horn wasted no time scheduling Arkansas State and the University of Central Arkansas.

Van Horn said ASU’s Red Wolves and UCA’s Bears have been added for midweek nonconference games in 2021 at the Razorbacks’ Baum-Walker Stadium.

Arkansas Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek last week said he’s allowing Razorbacks coaches to break the longstanding UA policy of not playing other Arkansas schools, a policy he first amended in 2019 to allow the Razorbacks to play University of Arkansas system schools Arkansas-Little Rock and Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Van Horn’s 2019 College World Series lost 17-7 to UALR and beat UAPB, 16-4.

The Razorbacks were scheduled to play UALR and UAPB in 2020 but  didn’t because the coronavirus covid-19 pandemic cancelled the season in mid March.

““I think playing the other schools is gonna be great,” Van Horn was quoted by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette said.  “Obviously, it’s going to be a battle playing those guys on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between conference series. But at the same time, it’s just good for everybody involved.”