Diamond Hogs Garner No. 7 National Seed
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas baseball team was awarded the No. 7 national seed and the top seed at the NCAA Fayetteville Regional on Monday and will be joined by No. 2-seed Creighton, No. 3-seed Oklahoma State and No. 4-seed Albany.
The No. 11 (Baseball America) Razorbacks garnered a national seed for the first time since 2004 and just the second time in school history. UA was a No. 8 national seed in 2004 and advanced to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
Arkansas will open against Albany on Friday, June 1, at Baum Stadium. It will be the first meeting between the Hogs and Greyhounds.
It is the Razorbacks’ 20th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. It is Arkansas fourth time to host a NCAA Regional, including the third in the past four years. Arkansas has a 41-40 overall record in NCAA Tournament play and a 31-28 record in NCAA Regional action.
The first game of the 2007 NCAA Fayetteville Regional will feature the No. 2-seeded Bluejays against No. 3-seeded Cowboys from Baum Stadium.
The top-seeded Razorbacks finished the season with a 41-19 overall record and an 18-12 mark in the SEC. UA advanced to the championship game of the SEC Tournament last week, but dropped a hard-fought 7-4 decision to top-ranked Vanderbilt on Sunday.
Creighton enters as the No. 2 seed after posting a 44-14 record in 2007, including a 19-5 mark in the Missouri Valley Conference. Head coach Ed Servais’ team finished second in the Missouri Valley during the regular season, but upended Wichita State to capture their first MVC Tournament title.
Oklahoma State, coached by Frank Anderson, finished with a 38-19 overall record and a 16-11 in Big 12 action. OSU is making its second straight appearances in the NCAA Fayetteville Regional after finishing runner-up to Oral Roberts last season.
Albany is led by skipper John Mueller, who led the Great Danes to a 29-27 overall record this season. They finished 13-11 in the America East Conference, which was good for third place, but shocked league champion Binghamton in the conference tournament to earn the NCAA berth. Albany is making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
The Cowboys own a 42-19 lead their series with the Hogs and a 3-0 record in the NCAA Tournament. However, Van Horn boasts a 3-1 mark against Oklahoma State since his arrival in Fayetteville and a 15-10 record against the Cowboys in his career as a head coach, including winning 11 of his last 13 games against OSU. Arkansas leads the all-time series with Creighton 7-5 with the last meeting coming in 2003 at Baum Stadium where the Hogs posted a 9-5 win.
All-session ticket packets are available for $70 each. Ticket packets can be purchased by visiting the UA Ticket Office, going online at www.hogwired.com and clicking on the ticket button or by calling 800-983-HOGS (4647). The UA ticket office accepts Visa, Mastercard or Discover.
The winner of the Fayetteville Regional will play the winner of the Columbia (Mo.) Regional.
Fayetteville Regional Schedule
Friday, June 1
#2 Creighton vs. #3 Oklahoma State, TBA (Game 1)
#1 Arkansas vs. #4 Albany, TBA (Game 2)
Saturday, June 2
Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, TBA (Game 3)
Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, TBA (Game 4)
Sunday, June 3
Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, TBA (Game 5)
Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, TBA (Game 6)
Monday, June 4
Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6, TBA (Game 7)*
*if necessary
