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For the first time since 2015, Arkansas is hitting the road for the postseason. It will travel three hours to the west for the 2022 Stillwater Regional hosted by No. 7 overall seed Oklahoma State. The other participants are Grand Canyon and Missouri State.
Before play begins Friday, HawgBeat is taking a closer look at all three potential opponents. First up is the 2 seed, Grand Canyon, which the Razorbacks will face to open the NCAA Tournament…
Record: 41-19 (25-5 WAC)
Grand Canyon was dominant in the WAC this season, winning all 10 of its conference series — including five via sweeps. It’s not stranger to close games, though, with seven of its 25 conference victories coming by just one run.
Where the Antelopes earned their at-large bid, though, was in non-conference play. They won two of three midweek games against Arizona — with both wins coming on the road — and swept a two-game midweek series against Texas Tech, plus split a pair of games with Arizona State, Oregon State and Stanford. In all, they went 5-4 against Pac-12 foes and 7-4 against high-major competition.
Those games were part of a non-conference slate that had the 17th-toughest strength of schedule in the country, helping it finish at No. 50 in the RPI — nine spots behind Arkansas.
Head coach: Andy Stankiewicz (11th season)
The Antelopes are led by Andy Stankiewicz, who played parts of seven seasons in the big leagues before beginning his coaching career that included stops as a scout and manager in the minors and as an assistant coach at Arizona State.
He took over at Grand Canyon in 2012 when it was still a Division II program and has not only guided it to the DI ranks, but done so with great success. He has a career winning percentage of .590 and is a four-time WAC Coach of the Year, winning the award in four of the past five full seasons.
