FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Fresh off their seventh College World Series appearance of the Dave Van Horn era, the Diamond Hogs officially have their 56-game schedule for the 2023 season.
The slate features 11 opponents that qualified for the 2022 NCAA Tournament, three of which also made it to Omaha, Nebraska, for the sport's pinnacle.
For the second time in three years, Arkansas will begin the season with the College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Oklahoma State, Texas and TCU — in no particular order — will be the first three opponents during the three-day event, which will begin Feb. 17.
Seven non-conference opponents will make their ways to Fayetteville before the Razorbacks dive into Southeastern Conference play. Those 15 games will precede the arrival of the South Carolina Gamecocks, the Hogs' first conference opponent in a weekend series beginning March 17.
Division opponents playing at Arkansas include Alabama, Auburn and Texas A&M, and the Hogs will travel to LSU, Mississippi State and Ole Miss. Missouri joins South Carolina as the other Eastern Division team with a series in Fayetteville, and the road cross-divisional series are Georgia and Vanderbilt. The Commodores and Razorbacks will wrap up the regular season May 20 in Nashville.
The Hogs' first five midweek opponents after beginning the SEC slate will play at Baum-Walker Stadium before they hit the road April 25 for Springfield, Missouri, to take on the Missouri State Bears, the only team to defeat them in a midweek game last season.
The final midweek contest is scheduled for May 2 against Lipscomb at North Little Rock's Dickey-Stephens Park.
Below is the full schedule:
Feb. 17-19 - College Baseball Showdown (Globe Life Field)
Feb. 21 - Grambling (BWS)
Feb. 24-26 - Eastern Illinois (BWS)
March 1 - Illinois State (BWS)
March 3-5 - Wright State (BWS)
March 7-8 - Army (BWS)
March 10-12 - Louisiana Tech (BWS)
March 14-15 - UNLV (BWS)
March 17-19 - South Carolina (BWS)
March 21 - SE Missouri State (BWS)
March 24-26 - Ole Miss (Swayze Field)
March 28 - Omaha (BWS)
March 31-April 2 - Auburn (BWS)
April 4 - Arkansas State (BWS)
April 6-8 - Missouri (BWS)
April 11-12 - UALR (BWS)
April 14-16 - LSU (Alex Box Stadium)
April 18 - Central Arkansas (BWS)
April 21-23 - Georgia (Foley Field)
April 25 - Missouri State (Hammons Field)
April 28-30 - Alabama (BWS)
May 2 - Lipscomb (Dickey-Stephens Park)
May 5-7 - Mississippi State (Dudy Noble Field)
May 12-14 - Texas A&M (BWS)
May 18-20 - Vanderbilt (Hawkins Field)
May 23-28 - SEC Tournament (Hoover Met)
June 2-5 - NCAA Regionals (TBD)
June 9-12 - NCAA Super Regionals (TBD)
June 16-26 - NCAA College World Series (Charles Schwab Field)
UPDATE: An SEC spokesperson announced Friday that the 2023 conference scheduled was released in error. An updated version will be released some time in the near future.
HawgBeat.com is expecting the league to replace Missouri with Tennessee on the Razorbacks' slate. The Volunteers hosted Arkansas in 2021, and the programs did not meet last season, so they should play in Fayetteville in 2023.
UPDATE: Tennessee will indeed replace Missouri on the Hogs' 2023 schedule, according to D1Baseball managing editor Kendall Rogers.
