Regional attendance leads nation

FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas’ total paid attendance for last weekend’s NCAA Fayetteville Regional baseball tournament was the best in the nation.

Arkansas also had the best single-game attendance figure in the country, and posted the top figures in the nation for games four, six and seven.

The seven-game regional, which included the Razorbacks, Washington State, Kansas State and Grambling State, drew a total of 44,904 fans, which was the most among the 16 regional sites. Texas was second with 40,793, followed by South Carolina with 33,964 and Virginia with 29,136.

"We are grateful to the Razorback fans for once again making the University of Arkansas the home of the nation’s top attended NCAA baseball regional," Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Jeff Long said. "Razorback fans came from all over the state and region to help provide Coach Dave Van Horn and our baseball team with a tremendous home field advantage. Throughout the season a record number of fans came through the gates at Baum Stadium. We appreciate all of those who continue to make Baum Stadium the best college baseball venue in the country."

Arkansas won the regional with Monday’s 7-2 victory over Washington State and advances to this week’s Super Regional at Arizona State. The Razorbacks are 43-19 overall and finished the 2010 home schedule 29-9 at Baum Stadium.

Based on regional per-game averages, Texas was first in the country with an average 6,799 fans per game, followed by Arkansas at 6,415, South Carolina at 5,661 and Virginia with 4,162.

Arkansas’ 6-4 victory over Washington State on Saturday drew a crowd of 8,428, which was the best single-game figure for any game in the entire tournament.

The 10-7 loss to WSU Sunday drew 7,750 and Monday’s victory drew 6,774. Those figures also led the nation for games four and six, respectively.

Arkansas’ 19-7 win over Grambling drew 6,305, which was second to Texas’ 6,455 for opening-game attendance.

Of the eight regional sites that were extended to seven games, Arkansas’ total is more than 15,000 larger than the closest host, the Charlottesville, Va., Regional.

Arkansas last hosted a regional in 2007. During that six-game event, the Fayetteville Regional posted the highest total (38,710) and average attendance (6,452), and the best single-game marks for games four (9,572), five (6,848) and six (8,128).

For the regular season, Arkansas drew 187,314 fans for 34 home dates, which is a school record for actual attendance. The Razorbacks had a tickets sold number of 263,504, which is the second-best mark in school history. Arkansas averaged 5,509 fans per game in actual attendance and 7,750 in tickets sold per game, which both rank third-best in school history.

Arkansas’ Super Regional in Tempe, Ariz., begins on Saturday. Game one is at 8 p.m. (Central) and is being televised by ESPNU.

2010 NCAA Baseball Regional Attendance Figures(Ranked on total paid attendance)