Why Arkansas baseball will — and won’t — win Stillwater NCAA Regional

Arkansas baseball is headed to Stillwater, Okla., for its NCAA Tournament regional. The Razorbacks will be the No. 2 seed in the regional behind No. 1 Oklahoma State and match up with No. 3 Grand Canyon for their first game.

Arkansas has lost six of its last eight games, including going 0-2 at the SEC Tournament. The Razorbacks will need a jolt of energy to their bats and pitching staff to make it out of the regional, but it’s not an impossible task.

Here’s why Arkansas can — and can’t — advance to super regionals.

Why Arkansas will win in Stillwater

The good news about Arkansas going 0-2 in Hoover is that it will be well-rested for the regional. The Razorbacks last played Friday, and coach Dave Van Horn said the team got two days off and will have some light work this week before heading to Oklahoma.

Arkansas matches up well with Oklahoma State should the two meet. The Cowboys aren’t an overpowering team and were swept in the regular season by lower-seeded Texas and unseeded Gonzaga and Texas Tech.

Arkansas has been an underdog in regional play before and made it out. Of the nine times the Razorbacks have been a No. 2 seed in a regional under Van Horn, they’ve won the regional three times, including in Stillwater in 2015.

“When you get to this part of the season, if you haven’t finished well and you get in, you’re just kind of glad that the regular season’s behind you,” Van Horn said. “You never know how it’s going to go.”

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Why Arkansas won’t win its regional

Arkansas has a tough matchup to start the postseason. Grand Canyon won or split series against Arizona, Texas Tech, Oregon State and Stanford, all of which are tournament teams. The Antelopes are hitting .306 as a team with an .861 OPS.

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As for other matchups, Arkansas has already lost to No. 4 regional seed Missouri State this year. Oklahoma State is on an opposite trajectory to Arkansas, winning five of its last seven and earning an unexpectedly high national seed.

Postseason baseball is often about teams getting hot at the right time, and Arkansas went cold down the stretch. Its starting pitching has struggled, as has its offense, and Van Horn said he’s most concerned with the team’s mindset.

“As far as game play, we need to score earlier in the game,” he said. “We’ve been behind a lot, trying to fight back. We have done it a few times down the stretch, but more times than not, we didn’t catch them. More than anything, just change our minds. It’s a new season and anything can happen.”

Christina Long covers the Arkansas Razorbacks. You can email her at clong@swtimes.com or follow her on Twitter @christinalong00.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Arkansas baseball in Stillwater NCAA Regional: why will and won’t win