Central has never won a game in NCAA regional play, 0-12 in Hickey’s six appearances. They lost a couple of close games two years ago in Fort Worth, by three to host TCU and by one to Dallas Baptist.
Arkansas is ranked No. 5 in the nation. This is a reward for Central – and an incredible challenge. Junior Brandon Fox of Manchester is expected to be the starting pitcher against the Razorbacks.
“You’re walking into the big world of college baseball,” said Hickey, who led Providence to a memorable 49-win season an NCAA run to a Super Regional in 1999, with it having been announced the program would be canceled as part of an effort to meet Title IX requirements. “I’ve been fortunate to go a lot of neat places. [Arkansas] probably isn’t going to know who we are and I don’t know if they’re going to care, but hopefully we can make them aware of us after they play nine innings against us. This is an opportunity for an experience that very few kids get to have. Win or lose, it’s going to be fun and I’m not going to be disappointed, but I do hope we play well.”
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