No. 7-national-seed Arkansas hosts No. 2-seed Creighton, No. 3-seed Oklahoma State and No. 4-seed Albany in the 2007 NCAA Fayetteville Regional at Baum Stadium this weekend.

CSTV will televise the Fayetteville Regional, one-of-three regionals to be broadcast nationally in its entirety. Tom Hart and Carter Blackburn will handle the play-by-play duties for the CSTV broadcasts with Kevin Stocker providing analysis.

The Arkansas games can be heard throughout the state on the Razorback Baseball Radio Network with Chuck Barrett and Rick Schaeffer calling the action. Barrett and Schaeffer will also call each game of the regional that does not include Arkansas on KFAY 1030 AM in Fayetteville. 

OSU and Creighton get things started at 2:37 p.m. Friday, June 1, with the Razorbacks and Great Danes slated for a 6:37 p.m. start.

Junior right-hander Duke Welker will go to the hill for the Hogs on Friday night. He is 6-5 on the season with a 3.83 ERA in 91.2 innings of work with 73 strikeouts. Welker is coming off of a dominating performance against then-No. 9 South Carolina in the SEC Tournament last Saturday. Albany will counter with right-handed senior John Naples, who is 8-2 on the season with a 3.29 ERA.

Arkansas is hosting its fourth NCAA Regional and the third in the last four years. It is the Hogs 20th NCAA Tournament appearance and sixth straight. Head coach Dave Van Horn has led the Razorbacks to NCAA play in each of his five seasons, including a College World Series berth in 2004.

The Hogs bring a No. 11 national ranking (Baseball America) into the regional with a 41-19 record. UA is hitting .288 on the season while scoring 7.9 runs per game. The pitching staff boasts a 3.86 ERA and is striking out a school-record nine batters per nine innings.

Jess Todd will pitch for Arkansas on Saturday. He is 9-2 this season with a 2.49 ERA and a team-high 124 strikeouts in 90.1 innings. He is 5-0 over his last six starts with a 0.91 ERA and 64 strikeouts. Nick Schmidt will follow him in the rotation. The junior southpaw has been a stalwart in the Hogs’ rotation since he arrived on campus in 2005. Schmidt is 10-3 this season with a 2.85 ERA and 107 strikeouts.

NCAA Fayetteville Regional

Baum Stadium • Fayetteville, Ark.
Radio: RBRN / KFAY (all games)
Live Stats: NCAASports.com • TV: CSTV 

Tournament Schedule

Friday, June 1

Game 1: #2 Creighton vs. #3 Oklahoma St., 2:37 p.m.
Game 2: #1 Arkansas vs. #4 Albany, 6:37 p.m.  

Saturday, June 2

Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 2:37 p.m.
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 6:37 p.m.

Sunday, June 3

Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 2:37 p.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 6:37 p.m.

Monday, June 4

Game 7: if Game 5 winner beats Game 4 winner in Game 6, 7:37 p.m.

Arkansas Pitching Rotation

Friday: 42 Duke Welker, RHP (6-5, 3.83 ERA)
Saturday: 28 Jess Todd, RHP (9-2, 2.49 ERA)
Sunday: 33 Nick Schmidt, LHP (10-3, 2.85 ERA)

Courtesy: Arkansas