Former Lions baseball alumni returned to Alumni field for their annual reunion.
Courtesy of Randy Bergeron

Lions baseball alumni gathered at Alumni Field for their annual reunion last weekend in the second game of the series between the Lions and Central Arkansas. It was also a reunion for the 1992 Lions baseball team that was the first to make it to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Regionals.

Former Head Coach of that 1992 team Greg Marten relived what to him made the season special.

“It was the first time so it was a good feeling,” said Marten. “It was our first year in the conference and we lost early in the conference tournament that year so we had to battle back in the loser’s bracket and that was very special.”

The 1992 Lions lost to Pepperdine in the second round of the College World Series before losing to Hawaii university in the loser’s bracket. Pepperdine went on to win the College World Series that year.

Marten hopes the the current Lions team can surpass what his team accomplished in the NCAA Division I Regionals.

“We did much like what this year’s southeastern team is doing,” said Marten. “I’m glad we were the first ones and hopefully this team will go even further.”

Former alumni Scott Macdonald was happy to reunite with his old teammates.

“It’s awesome,” said Macdonald. “Great to see old friends and faces that I haven’t seen in a long time. I was able to bring my family and they got to meet the guys that I played with 25 years ago. I think the combination of the right people in the right place seemed to fit and make the team special.”

The alumni were proud of how the field has been upgraded and how the team is being well funded.

“The facilities are great,” said former alumni Kylie Hughes who played on the 1992 team. “We were talking about the infield. If it felt that nice when we played we would have never made an error. The stadium is nice you can tell a lot of money has been put back into the program.”

One of the older alumni Carl Dick remembers what it was like playing in the 1940s and is glad that the program has grown and become successful.

“It’s a lot different it was in 1947,” said Dick. “Back then we were the first team after World War II. We wasn’t great but we were a pretty good team. They got a good program here.”