The NCAA announced the sites and pairings for its regional tournament Monday, creating two distinctly different situations for two in-state teams.
There was very little surprise in regards to Arkansas, which was predicted to receive a top national seed. That came true Monday, with the Razorbacks announced as the No. 3 overall seed and host of a regional tournament site. Arkansas will be joined by No. 2 seed Kansas, No. 3 seed Creighton and four-seeded North Dakota State.
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock, meanwhile, will travel to Baton Rouge to face LSU Friday after a surprise run to the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship.
Arkansas enters Regional play with a 43-13 record, having come off a 5-2 loss to Ole Miss in the Southeastern Conference tournament. Expect the Razorbacks to be led by junior shortstop and SEC Player of the Year Wehiwa Aloy, who has hit .358 over 55 games.
For Little Rock, entry into regional play comes after a difficult, injury-plagued season led to the eighth and final seed in the OVC tournament. The Trojans won five games in four days during the tournament, which was held in Marion, Illinois.
Little Rock will face LSU Friday at 2 p.m.
We’re going to have fun with it,” Trojans coach Chris Curry said. “We’re going to enjoy it and we’re going to embrace the moment.”
Though picked to win the OVC in the preseason, Little Rock spent most of the spring playing without a full roster due to injuries. The result was a sub-.500 finish in conference play and an entry in the conference tournament as the lowest seed.
We had six guys out of the lineup, our closer – who is still out – and some others,” Curry said. “What these guys figured out is how to reconstruct their roles, reconstruct themselves as a team and push through those really dark weekends.”
Expect Little Rock to rely on starting pitchers Jack Cline and Jackson Wells. Cline took the ball in the Trojans’ must-win tournament championship Sunday, and threw a complete game while giving up only one run on two days’ rest. Wells threw a complete game of his own in tournament play, leading Little Rock to a victory over Southern Indiana.
I’m just pumped to keep playing,” Cline said. “We knew that if we could get out of our own way during games, we could play a clean game. We can have a good chance against anybody and that’s what happened this week.”
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