UALR officials: Exhibition positive start with UA

Arkansas shortstop Casey Martin throws out a UALR baserunner during the Razorbacks baseball scrimmage against UALR on Friday, Oct. 12, 2018, at Gary Hogan Field in Little Rock.
Arkansas shortstop Casey Martin throws out a UALR baserunner during the Razorbacks baseball scrimmage against UALR on Friday, Oct. 12, 2018, at Gary Hogan Field in Little Rock.

It certainly wasn't the best time for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to add another event to its plate.

Athletic department officials were already hosting Thursday night's SpectacUALR, its largest fundraising event of the year, on top of two volleyball matches, a men's and women's cross country meet and a soccer game this weekend. But when baseball Coach Chris Curry got a phone call from Arkansas' Dave Van Horn a couple of weeks ago, they certainly couldn't say no.

"I called them in a room and said 'Guys, I hate to do this, but we've got some exciting news and we're going to make this work,'" said UALR Athletic Director Chasse Conque while surrounded by an estimated 1,400 fans Friday night at Gary Hogan Field to see the Trojans play an exhibition game against the University of Arkansas.

Friday's game won't count on either team's record, that will come in the spring when the Trojans play at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville. But the historic aspect still wasn't lost on Conque, who has lived in Arkansas for almost two decades, or Curry, a Conway native in his fifth year at UALR.

It was believed to be the first time the Razorbacks have visited the Trojans' campus for a regular season or exhibition game in any sport, and the first contest against any in-state school since hosting Arkansas Tech in basketball to open the 1950-51 season in a 50-45 victory.

The Razorbacks broke their long-standing tradition of not playing in-state schools this summer, when regular-season games were announced against UALR and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in the spring.

UALR sold about 1,400 tickets -- more than the listed capacity of Gary Hogan Field -- issued more than 40 media credentials, brought in food trucks and portable toilets to accommodate the crowd, and even had to order a shuttle service to bring fans from a parking lot a few blocks away.

"That's a first," Conque said.

It came about in Van Horn's quest to find a suitable replacement for his team's rained-out exhibition at Oklahoma. He wanted his team to experience a road game, and he wanted one within reasonable driving distance. He said Friday that he could have "looked around a bit," but knew options were limited as he called Curry, a former volunteer assistant.

"I think it's great for everybody involved," Van Horn said. "We get to come to Little Rock to play in front of a lot of the kids on our team's parents, some local kids get to watch us play, and get to see UALR play. I think it's just good for baseball as a whole in the state."

Gary Hogan, who spent more than three decades as Trojans coach and administrator before retiring last spring, was appreciative of the sudden historical moment at the field that bears his name.

While watching the late innings Friday, he remembered the work needed to turn a city park with a dirt infield into one suitable for an NCAA Division I baseball team, and noted the continued work of the coaches who have followed him.

Only a handful of times, he said, that he could 1,400 fans to the park -- and only when his annual fish fry accompanied a game.

"I sold $5 tickets, I got the fish donated, and I had a keg of beer in the corner for the adults," Hogan said.

Even if it was an exhibition, Friday felt different, he said.

"Did I ever think this would happen? No," he said. "I went down there and thanked Dave, because he didn't have to come here. He legitimized Trojan baseball tonight."

Curry said it was a valuable experience for his players independent of the historical context, because it's not very often the Trojans have a chance to host a national runner-up. Arkansas lost to Oregon State in the best two-of-three College World Series earlier in the summer.

"From that standpoint," Curry said, "it's priceless."

But he also liked seeing all the first-timers at Gary Hogan Field.

"The winners are the players, the winners are the fans," Curry said. "You realize as an Arkansan, and I'm a born and raised Arkansan, that baseball is good here. And you realize that every other state maybe in the union has this going on, and it's nice for us to catch up, and [Van Horn] led the charge."

The two teams will meet for real in the spring in Fayetteville. Will more follow? Conque didn't say for sure. But for the first time ever, there's "an open dialogue."

"I think once we establish and set the tone with the baseball game next spring," Conque said, "the University of Arkansas coaching staff, and the Little Rock staff have been in constant contact, so I think you'll see a lot more here in the next year or two."

Sports on 10/14/2018

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