Arkansas will open NCAA Tournament action Friday against Southeastern Missouri at 2 p.m.

BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON

FAYETTEVILLE – For the sixth time in seven years, Arkansas will be hosting a NCAA Baseball Tournament Regional, but it is not something that Razorback head coach Dave Van Horn is taking for granted.

“Yeah, super excited to be hosting another regional,” Van Horn said. “It’s not easy. It’s like I told the team, there’s 250-260 teams that aren’t playing anymore. And it’s hard to get in.

“There were a lot of really good teams that were on the bubble this year. It’s a long grind, the whole season. And for the most part we’ve maneuvered it pretty well.

“But we’re really excited for the postseason and we’re even more happy that we get to stay here and play it in front of our fans who have been incredible for us this year.”

Fayetteville Regional top seed and No. 5 national seed Arkansas (43-14) will play regional fourth seed and Ohio Valley Conference champion Southeastern Missouri State (34-25) Friday at 2 p.m.

The other Friday match up will have second-seed Louisiana Tech (45-17) and third-seeded Kansas State (32-24) facing off at 7 p.m.

The two winners will play Saturday at 8 p.m after the two losers play at 2 p.m.

The Fayetteville Regional is paired up with the Charlottesville one hosted by No. 12 overall seed and regional top seed Virginia and also includes SEC power Mississippi State, St. John’s and Pennsylvania.

Van Horn was obviously happy to be a top eight national seed, which allows you to also host a best two-of-three Super Regional if you advance out of the regional.

That would also mean playing at home until the College World Series if you can continue to win.

“Just it’s great being a top 8,” Van Horn said. “It doesn’t matter 1 or 8 to me, or anywhere in between. So, excited about that.

“Our regional is a true regional with Louisiana Tech about four or five hours away. SEMO probably five hours away, something like that. I just feel like … And K-State, same thing. Probably 5 and a half maybe. 

“Should be really good crowds.  I would think the other teams would be able to bring a lot of fans. You just think that anyway. But I don’t know, you never know what’s going to happen this time of the year, who’s hot or who’s not. Who’s hurt, who’s not? Who’s sick, who’s not? Been on both sides of it. So just excited to be back playing here.”

Arkansas was one of a record-setting 11 SEC teams to make the 64-team NCAA Tournament, which was announced Monday morning on ESPN2.

The top three national seeds, four of the top five and five of the top seven were all from the SEC – No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Kentucky and No. 3 Texas A&M – while ACC power North Carolina was No. 4 and Arkansas No. 5, Clemson No. 6, Georgia No. 7 and Florida State No. 8.

“So if you get through this league, you’re definitely battle-tested,” Van Horn said. “You go out and you play in a regional, you’ve got a really good shot to get to the final day, so-to-speak, the championship game, whether you’ve got to win a couple or one.

“Just because you’ve played such good competition, you’re not going to be shocked or anything by how good somebody is, I don’t feel like, because you’ve probably already seen it. That’s just the way the SEC is now. We kind of kid around, big-boy baseball.”

Arkansas has lost its last three games, four of five and 7 of 10, with 8 of its 11 game being on the road.

Van Horn knows his team is ready to play at home, where it is 33-3 this season, including a school-record tying 27 victories in a row.

“We didn’t play terrible, didn’t play great,” Van. Born said. “Just played good teams. It was a neutral site. It was frustrating losing because we lost four of five games on the road trip and we’re not used to losing, doesn’t sit well with us obviously but the players don’t like losing either.

“It’s not like, ‘Oh well, we lost, whatever.’ They’re like the coaches, they take it personal and we’re looking forward to getting back. I don’t think the way we played in the tournament will make us play worse in the regional, if anything we should play a little better.

“Little more motivated, better rested going into this thing. If we play good, great. Hopefully we win. If we don’t, it’s probably because the other teams are really good.”

As the host, Arkansas had the chance to play either a day game or night game on Friday, but Van Horn thinks playing the afternoon one is the right move for the team, alebit maybe not as much for the fans.

“Really experienced with both,” Van Horn said. “Having to deal with the weather if you’re the second game and the first game gets played, and the second game gets delayed or rained out, then having to play super early in the morning and for sure going to play two the next day somehow, some way if possible.

“You know, just talking to other coaches in the past about the way they do it, it used to be they’d tell me, ‘Yeah, they made us play at night.’ Until there was an issue with the weather and then they figured out it might be better to play early.

“It cuts into our crowd, or it makes it harder for the fans to get here for a 1 o’clock game or 2, whatever your scheduled that day, because that’s usually what they are. We understand that, but as far as for the team, just getting up, going through routine and playing and if there is weather, you have more time to fight it throughout the day.”

Arkansas has one of the best – if not the best – college pitchers in ace Hagen Smith (9-1, 1.48), who is 24-5 in his Razorback career with a school-record 353 strikeouts with 154 this season.

Smith’s only loss was in the SEC Tournament after giving up two runs while the TV broadcasters were talking about his velocity being down.

Van Horn said that was simply not the case.

“They’re wrong,” Van Horn said. “They were watching the scoreboard, which was at least four miles an hour slow and some times five.

“So we’re seeing it on TV, if you watching a game like recently, and you seeing 93, 94, they are seeing 89, 90. So they are sitting there in that booth and seeing the scoreboard and they were wrong. Hagen’s velocity was still way up there as was what you were watching on TV.

“You weren’t watching that goofy scoreboard and it was really messed up – easily four miles an hour slow. Because I had said something about it   in game one to one of the coaches and (pitching) Coach (Matt) Hobbs said ‘yeah, that thing is four to five miles an hour slow, all the scouts are getting a correct time on their radar guns.

“That is kind of disappointing that these guys would say that to a national TV audience with not having the facts. He’s fine.”

Van Horn was not ready to at least publicly state who he will start in opening game.

“See who’s feeling really good, actually,” Van Horn said. “And obviously look at the team we play and their lineup and how they do against rights or lefts, if you have that option. 

“If we had a set rotation — because it’s been a little bit jumbled the last few weeks — it might make it a little easier. We’ll just look at all those things. Right now we’re just kind of diving into scouting reports and trying to watch some video and just make a good decision. Our goal is … We’ve got to win at least three in this thing.”

Photo by John D. James