When the University of Arkansas baseball team plays an elimination game against Murray State on Monday at the College World Series, two players from Batesville -- population 11,515 -- will take the field.

While he’s not hanging up his hat, Dave Van Horn knows he’s in the late innings of his career. Tom Shatel writes, along with Cam Kozeal, that there's every reason

OMAHA, NE ― Day 2 of the 2025 Men's College World Series saw powerhouse LSU move into the winners bracket while mid-major darlings Murray State will face elimination against Arkansas. The Tigers saw a strong start from Kade Anderson in a 4-1 win over the Razorbacks, while UCLA defeated the Racers, 6-4.

History Lesson Entering Monday’s matchup in Omaha, Arkansas is 8-0 all-time against Murray State. Under Dave Van Horn, the Razorbacks are 6-0 overall against the Racers.

The Kozeal homecoming symbolizes a link to Omaha’s CWS history. Matt Kozeal assisted with game operations at Rosenblatt, starting in 2005, and he worked on the grounds crew in 2009 and 2010 to ready the field for CWS participants and the primary Rosenblatt tenants, the Triple-A Omaha Royals.

• The Razorbacks will play a fourth Missouri Valley Conference program in the NCAA Tournament. Arkansas has an all-time postseason record of 5-4 against Wichita State, 3-4 against Missouri State and 1-0 against Creighton with those teams in the MVC. Wichita State and Creighton are now in other leagues.

Both coaches' wiillingness and ability to utilize the transfer portal.The reliance on the portal is especially pronounced on the Arkansas side of the ledger. Eight of the nine players in the projected starting lineup had previous college experience before playing for the Razorbacks.