Arkansas Baseball Hosting State Schools For First Time Ever

Baseball history is going to be made in the state of Arkansas in 2019.

For the first time in program history, the Arkansas Razorbacks will host fellow University of Arkansas system schools, Little Rock and Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

The games were made official on Wednesday, as Arkansas released its 2019 regular season schedule.

The Razorbacks will host the Little Rock Trojans on April 2 and the Golden Lions on April 16 at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas..

Arkansas has had a long-standing rule not to play other Arkansas teams in the interest of keeping their statewide support.

What about Arkansas St.?

Well, that doesn't look like it's happening anytime soon, as Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek said in a statement Wednesday that the intention is to play teams only from the University of Arkansas system.

“As the flagship institution within our state, this is an opportunity for us to enhance interest in our non-conference schedules while supporting other schools within the University of Arkansas system,” Yurachek said. “We have initiated with baseball this year and are exploring opportunities for future years in other sports.”

Still, this is a step in the right direction. Scheduling is hard, and non-conference scheduling for midweek games is especially difficult. This is going to generate interest in the state of Arkansas, and that can only benefit college baseball, and the programs that play the sports in the state of Arkansas.

Arkansas will play a number of schools from the state of Louisiana in 2019, hosting Louisiana Tech (March 8-10), Northwestern St. (April 23-24), and Grambling St. (April 30) in non-conference action, as well as an SEC series against LSU (May 10-12).