Fans in Fayetteville are excited about Baum-Walker Stadium being one of the NCAA Regional host locations. Still, manager Dave Van Horn already knows it won’t be easy.
Van Horn spoke of the journey his team took to be one of the top eight teams despite the struggles they went through midway through the season, including injuries and one-inning collapses.
But the legendary manager quickly dismissed the season’s misfortunes and acknowledged the field. The Hogs start with the lowest seed of the group, Santa Clara, and while they might not be from a power five conference, Van Horn still respects them as champions.
“They won something,” he said after the selection. “They’re a championship team. So all I know is probably just a little bit more than most people know about them, what popped up on the board. We’ll look into them right now.”
The other side of the field includes one of the Diamond Hogs’ opponents from earlier in the season, another conference champion, TCU. The Horned Frogs blew out the Hogs at the College Baseball Classic, and they haven’t slowed down since then.
“What a really talented team,” Van Horn said about TCU. “Older team Veteran team. Good mix of speed and defense. Power. Just following scores, and I follow most of the teams in our region. We felt like we’d get somebody from the area. Wasn’t sure it would be TCU.”
The Hogs will have to wait to see if they will get a rematch, all pending on if TCU can defeat Arizona, the wild card of the bunch.
Both games are Friday, with the Hogs taking on Santa Clara first at 2 p.m.