FAYETTEVILLE -- Blaine Knight has been the Arkansas Razorbacks' starting pitcher in every weekend opener this season.
That won't change at the NCAA Fayetteville Regional.
Knight, a junior right-hander from Bryant, will start the Razorbacks' opener against Oral Roberts University at 2 p.m. Friday at Baum Stadium, the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville announced Thursday on its baseball Twitter account.
Knight (10-0, 2.78 ERA) said Monday when the regional's first-round matchups and game times were announced that he wasn't concerned about pitching in the afternoon heat.
"Hydrate," Knight said. "That's the only thing I can say -- hydrate and just go out and pitch."
Oral Roberts is expected to start senior left-hander Miguel Ausua (8-1. 3.27 ERA), who started against the Razorbacks in last season's Fayetteville Regional.
Arkansas beat the Golden Eagles and Ausua 3-0 behind 7⅓ scoreless innings by Razorbacks starter Trevor Stephan, who is now pitching in the New York Yankees' organization.
Ausua allowed 8 hits, 2 runs and 1 earned run in 6⅓ innings against the Razorbacks. In 88 innings and 15 starts this season, he has 66 strikeouts and 33 walks.
Salty slate
Coach Dave Van Horn knew the Razorbacks could keep a high national profile and ranking this season if they could put together several victories against the schedule he assembled. Arkansas (39-18) did just that and was seeded No. 5 nationally by the NCAA selection committee.
"Yes, if we won enough games," Van Horn said when asked whether he thought the schedule could yield a national seed. "Obviously, I knew who we were going to play in conference on the road. The other three national seeds were three of the teams we played on the road in league play."
Arkansas is the only team that played three other national seeds -- No. 1 Florida, No. 4 Ole Miss and No. 8 Georgia -- on the road.
Arkansas played 35 games against 13 teams in the NCAA field. The other three teams in the NCAA Fayetteville Regional -- Southern Miss, Dallas Baptist and Oral Roberts -- played a combined 36 games against 13 teams, including a 2-1 series win for Dallas Baptist over Oral Roberts.
The Razorbacks were 21-14 in those games, while Southern Miss was 6-4, Dallas Baptist 7-10 and Oral Roberts 3-6.
All-America ballot
Four Arkansas Razorbacks are on the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association of America's All-America ballot.
Junior right-hander Blaine Knight (10-0, 2.78 ERA) is one of 51 pitchers with voters asked to pick eight; senior Carson Shaddy (.327, 10 HR, 38 RBI) is one of 23 second basemen with voters asked to pick five; freshman Casey Martin (.343, 13 HR, 43 RBI) is one of 21 third basemen with voters asked to pick five; and freshman Heston Kjerstad (.336, 11 HR, 47 RBI) is one of 55 outfielders with voters asked to pick eight.
Additionally, Kjerstad and Martin are on the freshman All-America ballot. The All-America teams will be announced in the week leading up to the College World Series, which starts June 16.
Arkansas shows out
Four Razorbacks from the state of Arkansas were among the players receiving SEC honors. Second baseman Carson Shaddy (Fayetteville) was a first-team pick and pitcher Blaine Knight (Bryant) was a second-teamer.
Catcher Grant Koch (Fayetteville) was an all-defensive team pick and third baseman Casey Martin (Lonoke) was on the all-freshman team.
"I've said it for years," Razorbacks Coach Dave Van Horn said of touting baseball in the state of Arkansas. "It's gotten better and better as time goes on.
"There are very good coaches at the high school level, the Little League level and then some of these travel teams they've put together. They're basically little all-star teams from around the state.
"We get to go recruit these kids and see them in bunches on the weekends most of the time. They're playing with guys that have the same aspirations they do, and that's to play college baseball at the highest level."
Coaches are prohibited by NCAA rules on commenting on recruits by name, but Van Horn said there are other good players in the state who will play for the Razorbacks.
"We've got a few committed that I can't mention yet because they're too young, and there are guys we're going to be looking at shortly," Van Horn said. "I'm excited about the in-state kids as always."
Open practices
All four NCAA Fayetteville Regional teams' practices today at Baum Stadium are open to the public.
Arkansas will practice from 10-11:15 a.m.; Southern Miss from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.; Dallas Baptist from 1-2:15 p.m.; and Oral Roberts from 2:30-3:45 p.m.
Sports on 05/31/2018