David Kevin Van Horn (born September 17, 1960) is an American college baseball coach and former infielder, who is the head baseball coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks. Despite leading the Razorbacks to 7 College World Series Appearances, he along with Jim Schlossnagle of Texas are the only current SEC coaches with a minimum of 10 years head coaching experience who have not won a National Championship.
Born in Stanton, California,[2] Van Horn graduated from Winnetonka High School in Kansas City, Missouri in 1979.[3] He then played junior college baseball at McLennan Community College in Texas for two years, earning all-conference and all-region honors as a freshman, while helping the Highlanders finish third in the JUCO World Series. His next season brought more individual and team success, as the team finished eighth in the nation and Van Horn earned All American and Region 5 Player of the Year accolades. Turning down the Chicago White Sox, who drafted him, he transferred to Arkansas for the 1982 season.
As a Razorback, Van Horn would earn All-Southwest Conference and SWC Newcomer of the Year awards for his performance. He was also recognized as team MVP. The Atlanta Braves selected Van Horn in the 10th round, where he would spend his next three years in the minor leagues.
Family
Coach Van Horn met his wife, the former Karen Lee, while serving as a graduate assistant at Arkansas. The couple has two daughters, Hollan and Mariel. Three grandchildren.
Dave van Horn departs the field after a 2009 mound visit in Baum Stadium.
Dave Van Horn's first collegiate head coaching job was in 1994 for the Central Missouri State Mules, now called the University of Central Missouri. Van Horn coached that team (51-11 record) to their first NCAA Division II national championship, in the Division II College World Series.
Van Horn's subsequent teams have had plenty of success as well, reaching the College World Series nine times, seven occurring at Arkansas (2004, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2022), the other two during his tenure at Nebraska (2001 and 2002). As a graduate assistant at Arkansas he has reached the CWS twice more, in 1985 and 1987. Coach Van Horn also led 17 straight teams to the NCAA tournament, from 1999–2015.
Arkansas reached the SEC Tournament every year under Van Horn as head coach from 2003–2007 and again in 2009. The 2008 team did not qualify for the SEC Tournament but qualified for the NCAA tournament.[4]
On April 5, 2015, Van Horn won his 500th game as the Arkansas coach.[5] On March 11, 2020, Van Horn won his 700th game as the Arkansas coach.
2009
Arkansas went 34–22 in 2009, and set University records for single-game attendance (11,434) total season attendance, (269,216) and actual attendance (173,946). Despite beating #1 Arizona State twice, the Hogs faltered at the end of the season, losing their final eight SEC games.
Arkansas returned to Omaha in 2009. The team won the Norman regional by knocking off top-eight seed Oklahoma. The Hogs next defeated Florida State twice at Dick Howser Stadium to punch their ticket to the College World Series. The Razorbacks were not expected to do well at the Series, but defeated the favored Cal State Fullerton Titans. Next, the Hogs were defeated by LSU, but staved off elimination the next day by beating Virginia in twelve innings. The Hogs were eliminated by eventual national champion LSU in game 11.
2012
Arkansas went 46–22 in 2012, which was the most wins in the Van Horn era and the most for a Razorback team since 1990, but limped into the postseason at the Houston Regional having lost both games it played at the SEC Tournament. Once it got in, it defeated Rice and then defeated Baylor at the Waco Super Regional to advance to the College World Series.
Arkansas won its first game in Omaha, defeating Kent State 8–1. The Razorbacks then ended South Carolina's 22-game postseason win streak with a 2–1 victory. The Gamecocks got them back though, winning 2–0 and 3–2 in the next two games to advance to the final, only to lose to upstart Arizona in the best-of-three championship series.
2015
After an extremely slow start to the 2015 campaign, where the Razorbacks were .500 going into April, Van Horn rallied the troops and the team responded by winning seven of its last eight SEC series and finished fifth overall in the SEC, and third in the West behind No. 2 national seed LSU and Texas A&M. Arkansas won the Stillwater Regional by defeating Oral Roberts, host Oklahoma State and St. John's in succession. The Razorbacks then caught a break by getting to host the Fayetteville Super Regional at Baum Stadium because Missouri State, the No. 8 national seed, couldn't host because it shares Hammons Field with the Springfield Cardinals. It took all three games of the best-of-3 series, but Arkansas defeated the Bears to clinch Van Horn's sixth trip to Omaha overall and fourth with the Razorbacks, tying him with former coach Norm DeBriyn.
2015 College World Series
Arkansas lost both games it played in Omaha in 2015, which was the first time since 2004 that the Razorbacks did not win a game there. They fell to Virginia in the CWS opener, 5–3, and then fell to Miami in an elimination game, 4–3.
2018
The Razorbacks came into the 2018 season with enormous expectations, and they lived up to those expectations. Arkansas earned a share of the SEC Western Division title with Ole Miss, and secured the No. 5 overall national seed in the NCAA tournament.
Arkansas hosted a regional at Baum Stadium, dispatching Oral Roberts, Southern Miss and Dallas Baptist in consecutive games in the Fayetteville Regional to advance to the Super Regional, also in Fayetteville, with SEC foe South Carolina. The 3-game series went the distance before the Razorbacks defeated the Gamecocks to clinch its fifth trip to Omaha of Van Horn's tenure, and ninth in program history, with a 14–4 victory on June 11.
2018 College World Series
Arkansas won its opening game in Omaha against former Southwest Conference rival Texas, 11–5. The game was delayed by weather in the sixth inning for nearly three hours.
Arkansas then defeated another former SWC foe in Texas Tech, upending the Red Raiders 7–4. This game was delayed by inclement weather twice. Originally scheduled for 7 p.m. on June 19, the game was rescheduled for 11 a.m. on June 20. Thunderstorms delayed the game further, and was finally played at 2:30p.m. that afternoon.
Arkansas defeated Florida in an elimination game for the Gators to earn a trip to the CWS finals against the Oregon State Beavers. The Razorbacks took game 1 of the series after it was delayed a day by weather, 4–1.
The Razorbacks were on the verge of securing their first baseball national championship but misplayed a foul ball with two outs in the 9th inning of Game 2, which would have ended the series and given Arkansas the title. It left the door open and the Beavers won the game and won the rubber game the following evening, forcing Arkansas to settle for a national runner-up finish.
2021
After seeing the previous season be cut short because of COVID-19 after just 16 games, Arkansas went into the 2021 season with high expectations, looking to make its third consecutive trip to Omaha.
The Razorbacks spent most of the campaign ranked No. 1, and ended up winning the SEC title outright for the first time since 1999 and won the SEC Tournament for the first time under Van Horn.
It was also the first time since 1989 that the team won 50 games and the fourth time in school history. Arkansas hosted a regional and defeated NJIT and Nebraska twice to advance to the Super Regional, before succumbing to NC State in three games to not make the College World Series for the first time since 2017.
2022
Arkansas spent much of the season ranked in the top five, eager to follow up on a terrific 2021 campaign. A late season swoon kept them from hosting a regional for the first time since 2015.
The team went to Stillwater again, dispatching Grand Canyon and #7 national seed Oklahoma State twice to advance to the super regional, where the Razorbacks had to travel to Chapel Hill. Arkansas upended the #10 national seed Tar Heels in two games to secure Van Horn's seventh trip to Omaha as the Hog boss and ninth overall.
2022 College World Series
Arkansas opened its Omaha slate by walloping #2 national seeded Stanford 17-2, the highest victory margin for a Razorback team in the College World Series and tallied 21 hits, an Omaha record.
The Razorbacks dropped their next game to Ole Miss, and had to win an elimination game against division rival Auburn to play Ole Miss again. Arkansas beat the Rebels on Wednesday, June 22, but had to do it twice to advance to the championship series, and the following day Ole Miss' Dylan DeLucia threw a complete-game shutout to end Arkansas' season. The defeat marked another failed attempt ln Van Horn’s National Championship pursuit, as he now has the most CWS appearances among active head coaches (9) along with Kevin O’Sullivan of Florida.
2024 Season
For the 2nd consecutive year Arkansas crashed out of the NCAA Tournament in the Regional round after securing a top 8 National Seed. A shocking defeat to Southeast Missouri State in the 2024 Fayetteville Regional has left supporters to question Van Horn’s chances at securing that elusive National Championship.
National championPostseason invitational champion Conference regular season championConference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season championDivision regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion
Baum–Walker Stadium at George Cole Field is the home venue of the Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team of the NCAA Division I Southeastern Conference, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. The playing field itself is named George Cole Field, in honor of the former Arkansas athletic director. George Cole Field was also the name of the Razorbacks' old home stadium, in use from 1975 to March 1996. Baum Stadium replaced George Cole Field in April 1996. The stadium is located one-half mile from the main Arkansas campus, which lies across Razorback Road from the stadium. On January 31, 2019 the stadium was renamed Baum–Walker Stadium at George Cole Field in recognition of longtime support from the Walker Family and the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation.
The LSU Tigers baseball team represents Louisiana State University in NCAA Division I college baseball. The team participates in the West Division of the Southeastern Conference. The Tigers play home games on LSU's campus at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field, and they are currently coached by Jay Johnson.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball team competes as part of NCAA Division I, representing the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the Big Ten Conference. Nebraska plays its home games at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park, built in 2001 to replace the aging Buck Beltzer Stadium. The program began intercollegiate play in 1889 and has been coached by Will Bolt since 2020.
The Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team represents the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas in NCAA Division I men's basketball competition. The team competes in the Southeastern Conference and is coached by John Calipari. Arkansas plays its home games in Bud Walton Arena on the University of Arkansas campus. The Razorbacks are a top-twenty-five program all-time by winning percentage (.641), top-twenty program by NCAA tournament games played, top-twenty program by NCAA Tournament games won, top-fifteen program by Final Four appearances, and despite playing significantly fewer seasons than most programs in major conferences, top-thirty by all-time wins. Under the coaching leadership of Nolan Richardson, the Hogs won the national championship in 1994, defeating Duke, and appeared in the championship game the following year, finishing as runner-up to UCLA. The Razorbacks have made six NCAA Final Four appearances.
The South Carolina Gamecocks baseball team represents the University of South Carolina in NCAA Division I college baseball. South Carolina has perennially been one of the best teams in college baseball since 1970, posting 35 NCAA tournament appearances, 11 College World Series berths, 6 CWS Finals appearances and 2 National Championships: 2010 and 2011. Carolina is one of six schools in NCAA history to win back-to-back titles. Since joining the Southeastern Conference in 1992, the team has competed in the Eastern division. South Carolina owns a stellar 32–20 record at the CWS and holds the NCAA record for consecutive wins (22) in the national tournament as well as the longest win streak ever at the CWS in which the Gamecocks played for national titles all three years.
The Ole Miss Rebels baseball team represents the University of Mississippi in NCAA Division I college baseball. The team participates in the West Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They are currently coached by Mike Bianco and play at Swayze Field. They have competed in the College World Series six times, with their first national championship coming in 2022.
The University of Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and is coached by Dave Van Horn. The program started in 1897, and is in its 102nd season of play in 2024. Arkansas is one of only four schools in the SEC to turn a profit from its baseball program in recent years, along with SEC Western division rivals LSU, Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
The 2009 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team represented the University of Arkansas in baseball at the Division I level in the NCAA for the 2009 season. Dave van Horn, a former Razorback player, is the coach in his fifth year. The team clinched a berth in the 2009 College World Series with a defeat of the Florida State Seminoles on June 6. The Razorbacks' run in Omaha ended on June 19 when they were defeated by the LSU Tigers, finishing tied for third nationally with the Arizona State Sun Devils.
The 1993–94 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team represented the University of Arkansas in the 1993–94 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. It was Nolan Richardson's ninth season as head coach at Arkansas. The Razorbacks played their home games at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas as members of the West Division of the Southeastern Conference. Arkansas finished the season 31–3, 14–2 in SEC play to win the West Division and regular season overall championships. The Hogs defeated Georgia in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament before losing to Kentucky in the semifinals. The Razorbacks received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the 1 seed in the Midwest Regional, their seventh straight trip to the tournament. Arkansas defeated North Carolina A&T and Georgetown to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the fourth time in five years. There the Razorbacks defeated Tulsa and Michigan to earn a trip to the Final Four. It was Arkansas's fifth trip to the Final Four in program history. In the Final Four, they defeated Arizona before beating Duke in the National Championship game. Thanks to Scotty Thurman's high arching three-point shot with less than a minute to play in the national championship game, the team earned its first national championship in school history. Thurman's shot is known as the "Shot heard 'round Arkansas", and is considered one of the greatest plays in Arkansas Razorbacks sports history. Corliss Williamson was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. 1993-94 is considered the greatest single season in Arkansas' one-hundred-year history of men's basketball.
The 2009 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was held from May 29 through June 24, 2009 and is part of the 2009 NCAA Division I baseball season. The 64 NCAA Division I college baseball teams were selected out of an eligible 286 teams on May 25, 2009. Thirty teams were awarded an automatic bid as champions of their conference, and 34 teams were selected at-large by the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee.
The 2010 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team represented the University of Arkansas in baseball at the Division I level in the NCAA for the 2010 season. Dave van Horn, a former Razorback player, was the coach in his sixth year at his alma mater. The 2010 club hosted and won the Fayetteville Regional, but fell in the Tempe Super Regional to the top-seeded Arizona State Sun Devils. The team was led by two All-Americans, Brett Eibner and Zack Cox.
The 2010 South Carolina Gamecocks baseball team represented the University of South Carolina in the 2010 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Gamecocks played their home games in Carolina Stadium. The team was coached by Ray Tanner, who was in his fourteenth season at Carolina.
The 2011 NCAA Division I baseball tournament began on Friday, June 3, 2011 as part of the 2011 NCAA Division I baseball season. The 64 team double elimination tournament concluded with the 2011 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, on June 29, 2011.
The 2012 NCAA Division I baseball tournament began on Friday, June 1, 2012, as part of the 2012 NCAA Division I baseball season. The 64 team double elimination tournament concluded with the 2012 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, starting on June 15 and ending on June 25.
The Arkansas Razorbacks softball team represents the University of Arkansas in NCAA Division I College softball. The team competes in the Southeastern Conference, and plays its home games at Bogle Park in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Razorbacks are currently led by head coach Courtney Deifel.
The 2018 NCAA Division I baseball tournament began on Friday, June 1, 2018, as part of the 2018 NCAA Division I baseball season. The 64-team, double-elimination tournament concluded with the 2018 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, starting on June 16 and ended on June 28. The Oregon State Beavers defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks in the best-of-three final series to win the championship.
Anthony Gregory "Tony" Vitello is an American college baseball head coach and former infielder. Vitello has been the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers baseball team since June 7, 2017. Since taking over as head coach, Vitello has led Tennessee back to national prominence and has helped establish Tennessee baseball as an SEC and national power. Vitello's teams have made five NCAA regionals, four NCAA super regionals (2021–2024), and three College World Series appearances, winning the College World Series National Championship in 2024 over Texas A&M for the Volunteers’ first-ever national title.
The 2018 Oregon State Beavers baseball team represented Oregon State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Beavers played their home games at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field and were members of the Pac-12 Conference. The team was coached by Pat Casey in his 24th and final season at Oregon State. The Beavers began the season ranked #2 by Baseball America and were unanimously selected by Pac-12 coaches to repeat as conference champions.
The 2020–21 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team represented the University of Arkansas during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by second-year head coach Eric Musselman and played its home games at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas, as a member of the Southeastern Conference. The Razorbacks finished second in the SEC regular season and earned a 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament's South Regional. Arkansas went on to make it to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 1995–96 season, and then to the Elite Eight for the first time since the 1994–95 season. Freshman guard Moses Moody was named the SEC Freshman of the Year, 1st Team All-SEC, Freshman All-American, and AP Honorable Mention All-American. The Razorbacks finished the season with an overall record of 25–7, 13–4 in SEC play, and finished ranked #6 in the Coaches Poll and #10 in the AP Poll. Arkansas's season ended when they lost to eventual national champion Baylor in the Elite Eight.
The Super Regional round of the 2021 NCAA Division I baseball tournament were eight best-of-three-games series to determine the participating teams of the 2021 College World Series. These matchups were:
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