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 ten times, eight occurring at Arkansas (2004, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2025), 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 to 2015. Arkansas reached the
SEC Tournament every year under Van Horn as head coach from 2003 to 2007 and again in 2009. The 2008 team did not qualify for the SEC Tournament but qualified for the NCAA tournament. • On April 5, 2015, Van Horn won his 500th game as the Arkansas head coach. • On March 11, 2020, Van Horn won his 700th game as the Arkansas head coach. • On March 15, 2025, Van Horn won his 900th game as the Arkansas head 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.
2009 College World Series 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.
2012 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 2:30 p.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 Arkansas failed to advance out of an NCAA regional for the second consecutive season. A shocking defeat to Southeast Missouri State in the 2024 Fayetteville Regional put a damper on an otherwise sterling campaign.
2025 Arkansas briefly spent a week ranked No. 1, and would go on to finish their season 43–12, and 20–10 in SEC-play. The Razorbacks enjoyed a home sweep of then-#1 Texas on the May 1–3 weekend, as well as sweeps over South Carolina, Missouri, and at Vanderbilt. Arkansas ended the regular season beating Tennessee 2 games to 1 at Baum-Walker Stadium. Although they lost to Ole Miss in their first game in the SEC Tournament, Arkansas was tabbed as the No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and hosted a Regional. The Razorbacks defeated North Dakota State once and Creighton twice to win the Fayetteville Regional championship, Van Horn's 10th as head coach of Arkansas. The Hogs then hosted Tennessee for a Super Regional, and Arkansas would sweep the Vols, winning Game One 4-3 and Game Two 11–4, to win the Fayetteville Super Regional championship, earning a spot in the 2025 College World Series. It is Van Horn's 8th trip to Omaha at Arkansas.
2025 College World Series Arkansas lost game one to the LSU Tigers 4–1 on Saturday, June 14. On June 16, the Razorbacks defeated Murray State 3–0, as pitcher
Gage Wood threw a no hitter with 19 strikeouts. It was only the third no hitter in CWS history, and the first since 1960. On June 17, Arkansas defeated UCLA 7–3, and advanced to the CWS semifinals versus LSU. Arkansas was subsequently eliminated in the next game against LSU, 6–5, on a walk off hit after Arkansas had just taken a 5–3 lead in the top of the 9th. ==Head coaching record==