FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will play Bryant in the NCAA Manhattan Regional on Friday at Kansas State.
The Razorbacks (37-20) will play on the road in the regional round for the third consecutive year after not being selected to host one of their own. Arkansas won a regional at Rice and super regional at Baylor last season en route to playing in the College World Series.
Bryant went 44-16-1 this season and won the Northeast Conference Tournament on Sunday. The Bulldogs are located in Smithfield, R.I.
The Razorbacks and the Bulldogs are scheduled for a 7 p.m. start time in the opening round.
Kansas State will face Wichita State in the first round. The winner of the Manhattan Regional will play the winner of the Corvallis Regional, a field that includes Oregon State, Texas A&M, Texas-San Antonio and UC Santa Barbara. Regional rounds are double-elimination.
Arkansas was ranked in the top 15 all season, but wasn't selected to host a regional because of a high RPI ranking. The Razorbacks played series against three SEC teams selected as regional hosts, beating South Carolina and Mississippi State in three-game sets, and finishing with a 2-3 season record against No. 4 national seed LSU.