Razorbacks will play regional away from Fayetteville

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn watches Thursday, March 10, 2022, from the dugout before the start of the Razorbacks' second game with Illinois-Chicago at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE — For the first time in seven years, Arkansas' baseball team will open NCAA postseason play away from Baum-Walker Stadium. 

The Razorbacks were not among the 16 regional hosts announced Sunday by the NCAA. Arkansas (38-18) has a higher winning percentage than six of the teams that will host beginning Friday, but the Razorbacks were hurt by a low score in the Ratings Performance Index, which puts an emphasis on schedule strength. 

The team's RPI ranked 41st nationally before games played Sunday. The host with the lowest RPI was Texas A&M (20).

Arkansas will learn of its regional destination Monday at 11 a.m. when ESPN2 will unveil the 64-team NCAA Tournament bracket. The Razorbacks will likely be the No. 2 seed in one of the 16 regional fields. 

Where Arkansas will play is anyone's guess. While some teams are given first-weekend assignments at campuses that are closest in proximity, regional fields often include teams from various areas of the U.S. 

Arkansas' regional in Fayetteville last year, for instance, included Nebraska and a pair of teams that traveled more than 1,300 miles, New Jersey Institute of Technology and Northeastern. 

The Razorbacks will not be sent to any of the SEC campuses that are hosting regionals — Tennessee, Texas A&M, Auburn or Florida. 

That leaves 12 regional sites as potential landing spots for Arkansas. Those regionals will be played at the home stadiums of Virginia Tech, Stanford, Maryland, Texas, Oregon State, North Carolina, Miami, Georgia Southern, Oklahoma State, Louisville, Southern Miss and East Carolina.

The Razorbacks have never played a regional at nine of those sites. Arkansas played in regionals at Texas in 2003 and 2005, at Stanford in 2008 and at Oklahoma State in 2015. 

Oklahoma State is the host site nearest to Fayetteville, approximately 180 miles away. 

Arkansas has hosted a regional in each NCAA Tournament that has been played since 2017. The Razorbacks won home regionals in the three tournaments that have been played since 2018.

The last Arkansas team sent away during regional play was the 2015 team that went to the College World Series. The Razorbacks won a regional at Oklahoma State that year and a super regional that was played in Fayetteville due to a scheduling conflict at Missouri State's home stadium.

Arkansas has been on the road for 10 previous regionals since the NCAA adopted its current tournament format in 1999. In addition to the 2015 victory at Oklahoma State, the Razorbacks won road regionals at Wichita State in 2002, Oklahoma in 2009 and Rice in 2012. 

Earlier this month it appeared Arkansas was a lock to host a regional again. After the Razorbacks won a series at Auburn on May 8 they were projected to be in the mix as a top-eight national seed, which guarantees home-field advantage before the College World Series. 

But Arkansas staggered down the stretch and lost back-to-back series to Vanderbilt and Alabama before a 0-2 week at the SEC Tournament. The Razorbacks will enter their regional on a four-game losing streak and with a 2-6 record in their last eight games. 

The recent losses, coupled with a perceived weak nonconference schedule, has caused Arkansas' RPI score to fall significantly in the past two weeks. The Razorbacks ranked 20th in RPI following the Auburn series.