Diamond Hogs draw a No. 2 seed in Tempe regional of the NCAA tournament

If the Hogs are going to make it to Omaha for the College World Series in 2011, the road to get there will take them through Tempe, Arizona.

Kind of seems like the long way around, doesn’t it?

The full 64-team field for this year’s NCAA baseball tournament was released Monday, and the Hogs will be a No. 2 seed in the Tempe regional. Arkansas will face the Atlantic 10 Conference champions, the University of Charlotte 49ers, in first round action on Friday.

The Tempe regional also includes host school and No. 1 seed Arizona State, along with automatic qualifier from the Mountain West Conference, New Mexico.

If the Hogs can make it past Charlotte on Friday, they could face a familiar Arizona State team on Saturday. The Sun Devils eliminated Arkansas in Super Regional play in 2010 after defeating the Hogs in two straight 12-inning marathon match ups.

If the Hogs are able to win the regional, they’ll move on to a Super Regional matchup with the winner of the Austin Regional (which includes the Hogs’ old Southwest Conference rival, the Texas Longhorns).

Game times and television information for Friday’s matchup with Charlotte will be released later this week.

Update: Arkansas is set to take on Charlotte at 4 p.m. on Friday, June 3. If they win, they’ll play the winner of Arizona State/New Mexico at 9 p.m. on Saturday, June 4. If they lose, they’ll play the loser of that game at 4 p.m. Saturday.

NCAA Division I Baseball Championship Bracket

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