Razorback senior designated hitter Brady Slavens (#17) from Olathe, KS celebrates his home run against OSU after rounding third base at O'Brate Stadium in Stillwater, OK.
Razorback senior designated hitter Brady Slavens (#17) from Olathe, KS celebrates his home run against OSU with his teammates at O'Brate Stadium in Stillwater, OK.
By Otis Kirk
FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas will open the College World Series on Saturday at 1 p.m. against Stanford with the game televised on ESPN.
Stanford, 47-16, won both the Stanford Regional and Super Regional to advance to Omaha. The Hogs and Cardinal have met once this season. Stanford defeated the Razorbacks 5-0 on February 27 in the Round Rock Classic.
In the win over the Hogs, Quinn Matthews worked six innings only allowing two hits, walked four and struck out 10 Razorbacks. Matthews has been a key pitcher for the Cardinal. He has a record of 9-1 and an ERA of 2.62. He has appeared in 26 games with 17 appearances out of the bullpen and also had nine saves.
The Stanford ace is senior Alex Williams. He has appeared in 17 games, all starts, and has a record of 8-3 with an ERA of 2.88. He has made some All-America teams.
The Cardinal have several key offensive weapons. Second baseman Brett Barrera leads the team with a .355 batting average. He has 11 home runs and 52 RBI. In the win over Arkansas earlier this season, Barrera hit a home run and had three RBI.
First baseman Carter Graham leads the team with 22 home runs and 78 RBI. He also has a .333 batting average. Outfielder Brock Jones has hit 20 home runs, has 56 RBI and a .327 batting average. Third baseman Drew Bowser has hit 18 home runs, has 50 RBI and hitting .297.
The Cardinal started their journey to the College World Series by winning the Pac-12 Tournament. They defeated Arizona State 6-3, then Arizona 15-8 and 5-4 before taking out Oregon State 9-5 in the finals.
Then the Stanford Regional saw the Cardinal narrowly escape. They blasted Binghamton 20-7 in the opener. Texas State then sent them to the loser's bracket with a 5-2 win. The Cardinal then down UC Santa Barbara 8-4. They battled back to defeat Texas State 8-4 and then 4-3 to advance to the super regional.
At the Stanford Super Regional, UConn defeated them 13-12 in the opener. But Stanford then took 8-2 and 10-5 victories to head to the College World Series.
So while Arkansas has played in the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala., Stillwater (Okla.) Regional and Chapel Hill (N.C.) Super Regional the Cardinal have been at home with the exception of the Pac-12 Tournament. That was held in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The Razorbacks are 5-5 against teams in Omaha while Stanford's only opponent to make it there this season is Arkansas.