Dave and David

Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn and Stanford Coach David Esquer have crossed paths before in the NCAA postseason.

In 1985, Van Horn was a graduate assistant for the Razorbacks and Esquer was a shortstop for the Cardinal when Arkansas defeated Stanford 10-4 at the College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium. They were in the same role the next year when the Cardinal defeated the Razorbacks 2-0 at the NCAA regional in Stillwater, Okla.

In addition to their game earlier this year at the Round Rock Classic, Esquer and Van Horn also coached against each other during three seasons while Esquer was the head coach at California. The Razorbacks won a threegame series at Cal in 2009 and in Fayetteville in 2010.

In 2014, the Razorbacks agreed to return a trip to the Bay Area to play games against Cal, Tulane and San Francisco in the ballpark for the MLB’s San Francisco Giants. Esquer said the ballpark backed out, leaving Cal’s 2,500-seat Evans Diamond as the only place to host the games.

“I’ll never forget that Coach Van Horn did not waver once in his commitment to come out to the West Coast when some people would try to say, ‘Well listen, if we’re not going to play it [at the Giants’ stadium], let’s just come play at my place,’” Esquer said. “He said, ‘I told Dave Esquer I’m coming out to California. I’m going out to California.’”

The Golden Bears won both games in 2014 in front of crowds that were measured in the hundreds.

“We played at Baum Stadium, and I always was wondering the Arkansas reaction when they walked into Evans Diamond — which is maybe the opposite of the bells and whistles of Baum Stadium — how they would react,” Esquer said. “And you know what, they treated us with the utmost respect and we had good ballgames out there. I’ve always, always been a fan of Coach Van Horn’s, but that really let me know what type of individual he was just as far as keeping his word.”