Arkansas was hoping to host a regional in this year’s NCAA softball tournament.
Not only did the Razorbacks fail to get selected to host a regional, they must travel to Norman where the No. 1 overall seed Oklahoma Sooners await.
Arkansas will face Fordham Friday at 5 pm with Oklahoma taking on Marist to follow.
“Last year we were nervous about getting in,” Arkansas coach Mike Larabee said. “The players are excited to be back in the tournament. We have a lot of players from Oklahoma in our program and they are excited to play close to home.”
Seven teams from the SEC are hosting a regional, which are given to the top 16 overall seeds. Ten of the league’s 13 teams are in the field. Vanderbilt does not compete in the sport.
“We have our work cut out for us,” Larabee said. “We are a lot deeper this year and we are a better team. Playing in the SEC tested us. We have played some of the best competition in the country. I am confident in our girls, they will be ready to play.”
The Razorbacks went 34-18 this season with a 12-10 mark in the SEC.
Florida, Missouri, Tennessee and LSU finished above Arkansas in the SEC standings but the remaining three regional hosts had a worse SEC winning percentage than Arkansas did.
