Baum–Walker Stadium at George Cole Field is the home venue of the Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team of the

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, located in

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."2007 Razorback Baseball Media Guide.
Dave van Horn.com
Retrieved on 21 March 2008. 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.

History

Baum Stadium officially opened in 1996. It was designed by Populous (formerly HOK Sport), an architecture firm that has also designed several major league stadiums. Its first game was a 9–2 Arkansas win over Auburn on April 13, 1996. The stadium was dedicated prior to a 9–3 Arkansas win over

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on May 3, 1996. In 1998, Baum Stadium was named the country's number one college baseball facility by

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, and claimed the top spot again in 2018. In 1999, Arkansas won the regular season

title and had an average home attendance of 3,780 spectators, the sixth-highest total in Division I college baseball. That year, the stadium hosted an

regional. Prior to the 2003 season, 2,600 chairback seats were added (1,300 down each foul line). In addition, the hitting and pitching cages were enclosed to allow year-round access. During the 2003 and 2004 seasons, renovations took place. Coaches offices and eight luxury boxes were added above the seating areas. Also, a new

scoreboard A scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score (sport), score in a game. Most levels of sport from high school and above use at least one scoreboard for keeping score, measuring time, and displaying statistics. Scoreboards i ...

was built in right field. The scoreboard stands 51 feet high and is 76 feet wide and features four classic brick pillars. Also in 2004, a natural grass surface was added, replacing the

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field that had been in place since the stadium opened. Rye grass was initially used for the 2004 season but was in 2005 replaced by a hybrid

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. In November 2006, the stadium underwent its third expansion since the 2003 season. The expansion includes 20 luxury boxes, 1,500 chairback seats, and a new outfield area to bring the stadium's capacity to 10,737 spectators. The expansions have made the stadium the second biggest, by listed capacity, in the Southeastern Conference. Baum Stadium hosted its first #1 vs. #1 matchup ever on April 7, 2009, a 7-3 Razorbacks victory over the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the sport, athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's Varsity team, varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Divisi ...

. The Hogs were #1 in Collegiate Baseball's poll, with ASU pulling a top ranking from

and the

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Coaches' Poll. The very next night, the Hogs set a then Baum Stadium record for attendance at 11,044 when they completed the sweep of the Sun Devils. Before the 2016 season, another new scoreboard was unveiled, becoming the largest video board in collegiate baseball.

Attendance

During the weekend of May 4, 2007, Baum Stadium set a record attendance mark for a regular season three-game conference series. In the series against

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, a total of 29,971 spectators attended the three-game series, which LSU won two games to one. The stadium's single-game attendance record of 11,103 spectators was set on April 9, 2011, in an 8–7 Arkansas win over LSU. In 2019, the Razorbacks finished 2nd in the nation in average attendance, drawing an average of 9,178 fans over 40 home games. The per-game figure, as well as the total attendance of 348,775 were both program records.

References

External links

HogWired Baum Stadium overview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baum-Walker Stadium College baseball venues in Arkansas Arkansas Razorbacks baseball Arkansas Razorbacks sports venues Tourist attractions in Fayetteville, Arkansas 1995 establishments in Arkansas Sports venues completed in 1995 Populous (company) buildings University and college buildings completed in 1995

History

Attendance

See also

References

External links