Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Hogs learn draw
Fayetteville offers path to potential berth in College World Series.
FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks are 29-3 at Baum Stadium this season, including 12-1 against teams in the NCAA Tournament.
But history suggests it won’t be easy for the Razor- backs to win the regional they’ll host at Baum Stadium this weekend.
The No. 1 seed University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (39-18) plays No. 4 Oral Roberts University (38-18) at 2 p.m. Friday to open the double-elimination regional. Southern Mississippi (4316), the No. 2 seed, plays No. 3 Dallas Baptist (40-19) at 7 p.m.
In six previous regionals at Baum Stadium, the Razorbacks have won only two titles — in 2004 when they beat Wichita State and in 2010 when they beat Washington State. They were eliminated at home in 1999 by Clemson, in 2006 and 2007 by Oklahoma State, and by Missouri State last season.
Arkansas has won nine regionals in 23 road appearances, so the Razorbacks’ regional winning percentage away from home (.391) is higher than it is at Baum Stadium (.333).
Razorbacks Coach Dave Van Horn said he doesn’t believe people think his team is a lock to win its latest home regional.
“If they do think that, then they don’t know college baseball,” Van Horn said. “It’s wide open right now. We have to play good.
“These teams come in here and it’s like a new season. It starts over, and it doesn’t matter what you did last week or two weeks ago. It’s all about now.”
Arkansas is the No. 5 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and will host a super regional if it wins the regional title.
“We’re not even thinking about the super regional whatsoever,” Razorbacks senior second baseman Carson Shaddy said. “Coach Van Horn really doesn’t want us to and I don’t want to, either.
“I’ve seen firsthand how you can overlook your regional and not make it out. So we’re focused on ORU, and that’s all we’re thinking about.”
Missouri State beat Arkansas 3-2 last year to win the 2017 Fayetteville Regional after the Razorbacks beat the
Bears 11-10 to stay alive. The Bears lost their super regional at TCU.
“We were really excited thinking we were going to play TCU, and we didn’t get the chance to do it because Missouri State beat us,” Shaddy said. “I would say that was a little bit of an issue, and I think it’s really important this year for us to focus on which game we have, and that’s ORU.”
Friday’s game will mark the 104th time the Razorbacks have played ORU, including the fourth NCAA Tournament matchup since 2015. The Razorbacks beat the Golden Eagles 8-6 in 2015 in Stillwater, Okla., and 3-0 and 4-3 last year.
ORU, which won the Summit League regular-season and tournament titles, is making its 28th NCAA Tournament appearance, 17th in 19 years and fourth in a row. The Golden Eagles are 17-3 in their past 20 games.
“I felt like Oral Roberts would be here,” Van Horn said. “They’re an awfully good team. They’re in a regional every year. They seem to play well in the second half of the season as they did again this year.”
Southern Mississippi is making its 12th NCAA Tournament appearance in 16 years and third in a row. Dallas Baptist is making its fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
“I guess what you get out of this regional is teams that are used to being in regionals,” Van Horn said. “It’s not like it’s a new experience or they’re going to come in here nervous.
“These teams play in regionals. It’s going to be a great tournament.”
Van Horn said it’s hard to pinpoint why Arkansas won more regular-season games at Baum Stadium than ever before.
“We’ve fielded the ball and gotten timely hitting, pitched extremely well,” he said. “Fans come out all the time. They’ve been great. I just think this year the guys have gotten on a little bit of a roll and hopefully we can keep it up.”
Junior pitcher Blaine Knight said the Razorbacks won’t be overconfident.
“We’re just going to come out and play,” Knight said. “This is postseason. You can get beat.
“Teams get hot at this time of year, so we’re just going to go out and play each game and try to win one game at a time.”
Van Horn said there is pressure on Arkansas as the home team to win the regional.
“But we’ll take that pressure every year,” he said. “We slept in a hotel for 11 nights in a row.”
The Razorbacks finished the regular season at Georgia, then went directly to the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala.
“It’s nice being home and mowing the yard and getting some things done around the house,” Van Horn said. “For these players, they get to be back here and relax, just hang out and not have to go to school.
“Get up and come to the ballpark and hang out with their buddies and get a chance to play baseball in front of 10,000 to 12,000 people. That’s a fun thing.”