FAYETTEVILLE – Making it to Omaha isn’t easy, but Dave Van Horn and the Arkansas Razorbacks couldn’t have asked for a better path to this year’s College World Series.
The Diamond Hogs are the fifth national seed for this year’s NCAA tournament, which means they’ll have home field advantage for this week’s regional play and, should they take care of business, again for the super regionals a week later.
It’s a big deal for the Razorbacks (39-18), who went 30-3 at home this season and will be playing in front of a jam-packed Baum Stadium.
“It’s hard to put your finger on it, actually,” Van Horn said on Monday. “We’ve played well here. We’ve fielded the ball and gotten timely hitting, pitched extremely well. Fans come out all the time. They’ve been great.
“It’s hard to say. I just think some years it’s different than others. I just think this year the guys have gotten on a little bit of a roll and hopefully we can keep it up.”
Arkansas ace Blaine Knight, who is 10-0 with a 2.78 ERA and 86 strikeouts, said there is a much different feeling playing at home.
“There’s always a comfort level playing at home versus on the road or a neutral site,” Knight said. “When you’re at home, you get to sleep in your own bed. You get to do all the stuff you normally do. You don’t have to change your schedule up a little bit, so there’s obviously a comfort level and we enjoy playing here.”
While getting to stay at home is a big deal, it doesn’t mean Arkansas has an easy path to advance.
The Fayetteville Regional consists of three other teams who are no strangers to postseason play and big ballparks.
Two seed, Southern Miss, enters 43-16 on the year after claiming the Conference-USA tournament title last weekend. The Golden Eagles are 0-3 against SEC teams (0-1 vs. Alabama, 0-2 vs. Ole Miss) this season, but bat .304 as a team and feature junior ace Nick Sandlin, who is 9-0 on the year with an impressive 1.13 ERA.
Seeded third is Dallas Baptist (40-19), a program that has been very competitive in postseason play over the last three years.
The fourth, Oral Roberts (38-18), is a nearby program that has plenty of experience at Baum, which included a trip to Fayetteville for last year’s regional.
It’s a group that Arkansas knows it can’t overlook, especially after Missouri State upset the Razorbacks in their own regional.
“I don’t know how I feel,” Van Horn said. “I felt like Oral Roberts should be here. 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 Miss and Dallas Baptist, I didn’t know there, obviously. It’s a really good field. All three teams are very offensive. I guess what you get out of this regional is you get teams that are used to being in regionals. It’s not like it’s a new experience and they’re going to come in here nervous.
“These teams play in regionals and it’s going to be a great tournament.”
Arkansas will open with Oral Roberts in a 2 p.m. matchup on Friday and is likely to throw junior lefty Kacey Murphy (7-4, 3.15 ERA).
“He’s had a really good season for us,” Van Horn said of Murphy. “We haven’t supported him in some games and scored him enough runs, but he seems to pitch well – 5, 6, 7 innings – just about every time we give him the ball. I feel like he’s confident. He’s that lefty. He gives you a chance every time you put him on the mound.”