FAYETTEVILLE -- After nearly two weeks on the road, the Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team drove home Monday from Hoover, Ala.
"It's nice knowing we're headed home and then we don't have to pack back up and leave again," Razorbacks Coach Dave Van Horn said from the team bus. "I know our players are extremely excited to play at home."
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville will host an NCAA regional for the first time since 2010.
The No. 1-seeded Razorbacks (42-17) play No. 4 Oral Roberts University (42-14) at 7 p.m. Friday at Baum Stadium. Missouri State (40-17) is a No. 2 seed and plays No. 3 Oklahoma State (30-25) at 2 p.m. Friday in the regional opener.
"It's four outstanding teams that have had great seasons," Van Horn said. "All these teams can really play.
"I think the crowds will be tremendous with the four teams all being from right around here."
The regional field has a familiar feeling for the Razorbacks, considering they've played Missouri State, Oklahoma State and Oral Roberts a combined 220 times, including two games this season.
Oklahoma State beat Arkansas 8-3 on March 5 in Frisco, Texas, and the Razorbacks won 12-4 at Missouri State on April 11.
Van Horn said having played the Cowboys and Bears "really doesn't mean a whole lot" because the games were so early in the season.
"Especially the Oklahoma State game," Van Horn said. "We played them the third week of the season.
"I know they had some injuries with some arms early that have recovered. I think that's one of the reasons they're playing so well. They've got their pitching lined up again."
Oklahoma State was the No. 8 seed in the Big 12 Tournament but went 4-0 in Oklahoma City -- beating NCAA Tournament teams Texas Tech, West Virginia (twice) and Texas to earn an automatic bid.
Arkansas and Missouri State played on a Tuesday night.
"We didn't see each other's weekend starters," Van Horn said.
Missouri State went 18-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference to win the regular-season title. Illinois State beat Missouri State twice in the MVC Tournament to eliminate the Bears.
"To lose one game in league play is amazing," Van Horn said. "They lost in their conference tournament, but sometimes that happens when you've played so well and already clinched an NCAA bid."
Oral Roberts went 25-4 to win the Summit League regular-season championship and won the conference tournament for an automatic NCAA bid. In nonconference play, the Golden Eagles went 2-1 against Oklahoma State, 1-1 against Oklahoma, 1-0 against Missouri State, 3-0 against Alabama and 1-2 against Dallas Baptist, which won the MVC Tournament.
"They're a team that's played an extremely tough nonconference schedule," Van Horn said. "They built up their resume that way."
Oral Roberts has a team batting average of .294 with 67 home runs and a team ERA of 3.00.
"It looks like they have a lot of depth on the mound," Van Horn said. "Like every game in this regional, we're all going to have our hands full."
Arkansas most recently played Oral Roberts in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, when the Razorbacks also played Oklahoma State and Missouri State.
The Razorbacks opened the Stillwater (Okla.) regional two years ago by beating Oral Roberts 8-6 and Oklahoma State 7-5 before taking the title with a 4-3 victory over St. John's.
Arkansas then beat Missouri State two of three games in a super regional at Baum Stadium.
Missouri State beat Arkansas twice last season as part of the Razorbacks' 13-game losing streak when they missed playing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001.
Van Horn said he's glad the Razorbacks are rewarding their fans with a regional at Baum Stadium.
"Our fans have been so loyal to us," he said. "They stuck with us last year through a tough year, and the crowds were great this year."
The Razorbacks had been on the road since May 17 when they flew to College Station, Texas, for the final SEC regular-season series against Texas A&M.
After taking two of three games from the Aggies, the Razorbacks flew to Hoover for the SEC Tournament, where they went 3-2 before losing to LSU 4-2 in Sunday's championship game.
All five of Arkansas' games in Hoover were against NCAA Tournament teams: They lost to Mississippi State 4-3, beat Auburn 12-0, beat Mississippi State 9-2 and beat Florida -- the No. 3 overall national seed -- 16-0 before taking on No. 4 overall seed LSU.
"You hope the momentum and experience of the SEC Tournament carries over into this weekend," Van Horn said. "If we'd gone there and been two and out, that would have been a little disappointing.
"To be able to stay there for five games and win three of them against teams that are in the NCAA Tournament, I think it should be a confidence boost for us."
Van Horn said he's not concerned about the Razorbacks being drained physically or mentally after their SEC Tournament run.
"I don't think playing that long will hurt us at all," he said. "I think once we get back into Fayetteville and get a little bit of rest, get our legs back underneath us, we'll be fine."
Up next
NO. 1 ARKANSAS VS. NO. 4 ORAL ROBERTS
WHAT Fayetteville Regional of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament
WHEN 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE Baum Stadium, Fayetteville
RECORDS Arkansas 42-17; Oral Roberts 42-14
WHO ELSE IS IN THE REGIONAL No. 3 Oklahoma State (30-25) and No. 2 seed Missouri State (40-17) will play at 2 p.m.
Sports on 05/30/2017