Image Courtesy: Inside Arkansas
2025 Fayetteville Regional (Baum-Walker Stadium)
May 30-June 2
3.Arkansas 43-13 (20-10) SEC
It’s all or nothing this weekend for Arkansas. The Razorbacks are the overall three seed for the third NCAA Tournament in a row and have yet to advance to the super regionals since 2022. Dave Van Horn even said the Razorbacks are much better than they were the previous two seasons when they hosted regionals in 2023 and 2024 and failed to move on. This team swept both of the top overall seeds, first (1) Vanderbilt back in March and (2) Texas to start May. They need to play at the level that they did in those two series if they want to advance to host a super regionals and not look ahead to a potential super regional rematch from a few weeks ago against former Razorback assistant Tony Vitello and reigning national champion (14) Tennessee. The way Arkansas can win this regional is the depth of their offense with SEC Player of the Year (shortstop) Wehiwa Aloy, center fielder Charles Davalan, designated hitter Kuhio Aloy, and more. Razorback ace Zach Root has been up and down this season. He was fantastic in an eight inning outing in a victory against Texas. The bullpen needs to help starters like Root out including sophomore Gabe Gaeckle and veteran Will McEntire. Aidan Jimenez will be the starting pitcher to open things on Friday afternoon against North Dakota State.
(4) North Dakota State 20-32 (13-15) Summit League
North Dakota State won the Summit League Tournament after defeating NCAA Tournament mainstay Oral Roberts, a common opponent for the Razorbacks. The Bison have played a difficult schedule, including three game series against (6) LSU, Alabama, Dallas Baptist, and Oklahoma State. NDSU faced the three seed headed to Fayetteville, Crieghton, and fell to the Bluejays 5-2 back on April 22. They have maybe the worst offense in the tournament but anything can happen if the Bison show up and play well in the regional opener against the Razorbacks on Friday afternoon. Summit League pitcher of the year Noah Johnson, who has turned into a dominant pitcher this spring for the Bison, will be the starter against a deep Razorback lineup who has lit up pitching staffs all season.
(2) Kansas 43-15 (20-11) Big 12
Dan Fitzgerald’s Kansas team is in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014 after being in hosting conversations for much of the year with sweeps over Oklahoma State, Kansas State, and West Virginia. If there’s an offense that is capable of keeping up with the high scoring Razorbacks, it would be the Kansas Jayhawks. Kansas is the next Big 12 team in position to help eliminate Arkansas from their own regional just like TCU (2023) and Kansas State (2024) did when they advanced to at least the super regionals after beating the Razorbacks. The Jayhawks are more than capable of doing the same, matching the Razorbacks with 43 overall wins and 20 conference wins (in the Big 12). But, first they must deal with the Big East champions, the Creighton Blue Jays. Where the Jayhawks are strong on the offense, Creighton has good pitching and defense. So, it will be up to the depth of the Kansas batting order to advance to the 1-0 game versus either Arkansas or North Dakota State. To me, the way Kansas wins this regional is they force it to go to seven games to eliminate the Razorbacks.
(3) Creighton 41-14 (17-4) Big East
Creighton’s pitching staff will need to be what leads it to success in Ed Servais’ last postseason run as head coach. The Bluejays did not play the strongest non-conference slate but defeated Nebraska on the road. They won an impressive 17 games during the regular season in the Big East before being victorious in three more on their way to winning the Big East Tournament championship. Creighton must wait until Friday night to face Kansas in what should be a great game between the Blue Jays’ impressive pitching staff and the Jayhawks’ deep hitting offense at Baum-Walker Stadium. Like Kansas, if Creighton can get through the Jayhawks, forcing the Razorbacks to play an extra game and beating them in a potential regional final on Sunday night. That would force Arkansas to use more pitchers and would give the Bluejays a better shot to win the Fayetteville Regional. The expectation is that Big East pitcher of the year Dominic Cancellari will be first on the mound against the Jayhawks on Friday night.
2025 Fayetteville Regional Predictions:
(Winner is bolded)
May 30
Game 1: (1) Arkansas vs. (4) North Dakota State (2 PM CT, ESPN+)
Game 2: (2) Kansas vs. (3) Creighton (7 PM CT, ESPN+)
May 31
Game 3: (3) Creighton vs. (4) North Dakota State
Game 4: (1) Arkansas vs. (2) Kansas
June 1
Game 5: (2) Kansas vs. (3) Creighton
Game 6: (1) Arkansas vs. (3) Creighton
June 2 (If Necessary)
Game 7: N/A
Winner: (1) Arkansas in 6
