Razorbacks Begin NCAA Tournament Run against Redhawks in Fayetteville Regional
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas (43-14), the No. 5 national seed and top seed in the Fayetteville Regional, begins its NCAA Tournament run against SEMO (34-25) Friday afternoon inside the friendly confines of Baum-Walker Stadium.
First pitch between the Hogs and the fourth-seeded Redhawks is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday, May 31, on ESPN+ with Derek Jones (play-by-play) and Jay Walker (analyst) on the call. The winner of Friday afternoon’s contest will advance to play at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 1, against the winner of Friday night’s game between No. 2 seed Louisiana Tech (45-17) and No. 3 seed Kansas State (32-24). Friday’s losers, meanwhile, will meet in an elimination game at 2 p.m. Saturday.
The winner of the Fayetteville Regional will play the winner of the Charlottesville Regional in a best-of-three-game super regional round from June 7-9 or June 8-10. No. 12 national seed and top-seeded Virginia (41-15) hosts second-seeded Mississippi State (38-21), third-seeded St. John’s (37-16-1) and fourth-seeded Pennsylvania (24-23) in Charlottesville, Va.
NCAA Fayetteville Regional Schedule
Friday, May 31
Game 1 – Arkansas vs. SEMO – 2 p.m. (ESPN+)
Game 2 – Louisiana Tech vs. Kansas State – 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, June 1
Game 3 – Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser – 2 p.m. (TBD)
Game 4 – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner – 8 p.m. (TBD)
Sunday, June 2
Game 5 – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser – 1 p.m. (TBD)
Game 6 – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner – 6 p.m. (TBD)
Monday, June 3 (If Necessary)
Game 7 – If the Game 5 Winner Wins Game 6 – TBD
On the Mound
Friday, May 31
SEMO – LHP Haden Dow (4-2, 4.89 ERA)
Arkansas – LHP Mason Molina (4-2, 4.04 ERA)
Junior Mason Molina will start on the mound in the Razorbacks’ opening game of the NCAA Fayetteville Regional. The left-hander, who is 4-2 with a 4.02 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 55.2 innings over 14 appearances with 12 starts this season, will make his first start on the mound since against Mississippi State on May 12 after working in relief in each of his last two outings in which he combined to retire 15 of 16 batters over five scoreless innings with five strikeouts on the road against No. 5 Texas A&M (May 17) and against No. 2 Kentucky (May 23) in the SEC Tournament.
Tune In
Derek Jones (play-by-play) and Jay Walker (analyst) have the call of the entire NCAA Fayetteville Regional on the ESPN family of networks. The Razorbacks’ opening game of the regional round against SEMO will be streamed on ESPN+.
All of Arkansas’ games in the Fayetteville Regional can also be heard on the Razorback Sports Network from Learfield, including locally in Fayetteville on 92.1 FM or through the Razorback app, with Phil Elson (play-by-play) and Razorback great and former big leaguer Bubba Carpenter (analyst) on the call. A full list of radio affiliates is available here.
Tournament Time in Fayetteville
Arkansas, participating in the NCAA Tournament for the 35th time in program history, is hosting a regional for the 11th time in program history and sixth time in the last seven seasons. The Hogs will maintain home-field advantage through super regionals and host at Baum-Walker Stadium for the seventh time overall and fifth time since 2018 if they advance.
Arkansas boasts a 102-77 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament, including a commanding 34-18 mark in tournament games played at home in Fayetteville. Under head coach Dave Van Horn, the Razorbacks tout a 71-46 all-time record in NCAA Tournament games with a 33-16 mark in tournament games played in Fayetteville.
Home Sweet Baum-Walker
Arkansas is 33-3 overall (.917 winning percentage) at Baum-Walker Stadium this season – one win shy of tying its single-season home win record of 34, which was set in 2018. Excluding the 2020 campaign, the Hogs have won 28 or more home games in seven consecutive seasons: 2017 (29), 2018 (34), 2019 (33), 2021 (30), 2022 (28), 2023 (32) & 2024 (33).
Since the stadium opened in 1996, Arkansas has six 30-win seasons at Baum-Walker Stadium: 2004 (31), 2018 (34), 2019 (33), 2021 (30), 2023 (32) & 2024 (33). The program record for single-season wins at Baum-Walker Stadium is 34 in 2018.
For complete coverage of Arkansas baseball, follow the Hogs on Twitter (@RazorbackBSB), Instagram (@RazorbackBSB) and Facebook (Arkansas Razorback Baseball).
