Arkansas familiar with all three potential SEC quarterfinal opponents

Razorbacks await either Florida, South Carolina or Ole Miss in Hoover but have to wait a few days to play

Dave Van Horn on the field in the second game of the series against the Tennessee Volunteers. The Razorbacks won 10-7. | Nilsen Roman-HogsSI Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — By winning the final series against Tennessee, No. 8 Arkansas secured one of four coveted double byes and the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament, which starts Tuesday.

The Razorbacks will wait their turn until Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals. Half of the conference will already be sent packing by the time the Hogs get involved.

All 16 teams will participate in a single-elimination tournament for the first time. Arkansas will play a maximum of just three games in the tournament.

"Last year we went 0-2," catcher Ryder Helfrick said. "We didn't play more than three anyways. This year, we need to just go in and play hard and try to win the whole thing. That's always the goal, is to win, and if we had to play seven – I would want to play seven."

The Razorbacks have already seen all three potential quarterfinal opponents in the regular season with varying level of success, sweeping South Carolina, beating Ole Miss and losing a series to Florida.

Here are quick breakdowns of each possible opponent:

South Carolina (No. 15):

South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Paul Mainieri pulls starting pitcher Brandon Stone (32) as the Auburn Tigers take on South Carolina Gamecocks at Plainsman Park in Auburn, Ala., on Thursday, May 8, 2025. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Head-to-head with Arkansas: 0-3
SEC record since playing Arkansas: 5-19
SEC Ranks:
Batting Average: .266 (14th)
On-base percentage: .369 (15th)
Slugging percentage: .421 (15th)
Runs: 321 (16th)
ERA: 6.31 (15th)

What looked like an impressive sweep when South Carolina left Fayetteville in late March, has looked far less impressive in the two months that followed.

Things have not gone well for Paul Mainieri's return to college baseball. The Gamecocks have been ravaged by injury with two of its best players injured.

Both catcher Talmadge LeCroy and first baseman Ethan Petry have missed extended periods of time. They were outscored in back-to-back series against Florida and Auburn a few weeks ago by a combined 85-23, including giving up 20+ runs twice and losing all six games

Florida (No. 10):

Florida Gators pitcher Liam Peterson (12) pitches in the first inning as the Texas Longhorns take on the Gators in Austin, May 10, 2025. | Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Head-to-head with Arkansas: 2-1
SEC record since playing Arkansas: 7-2
SEC Ranks:
Batting Average: .297 (6th)
On-base percentage: .406 (8th)
Slugging percentage: .505 (7th)
Runs: 426 (7th)
ERA: 4.94 (13th)

Florida's SEC season can be split into two halves, a 1-11 start which broke the record for worst start in school history and a 14-4 finish in which they won all six series.

To finish just one game behind the teams with a single bye in the standings is truly remarkable.

It's the second straight year that coach Kevin O'Sullivan has engineered the submarine route to the NCAA Tournament, taking the 2024 team to the College World Series semifinals.

Even though its pitching numbers still rank near the bottom of the conference, it's almost full run lower since that horrid 1-11 start from 5.72 to 4.94.

Ole Miss (No. 7):

Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco (5) makes a pitching change against Mississippi State at Swayze Field in Oxford, Miss., on Friday, Apr. 12, 2024. | Bruce Newman/Special to the Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK

Head-to-head with Arkansas: 1-2
SEC record since playing Arkansas: 15-12
SEC Ranks:
Batting Average: .288 (8th)
On-base percentage: .409 (7th)
Slugging percentage: .512 (6th)
Runs: 431 (6th)
ERA: 4.71 (10th)

Arkansas played Ole Miss to open SEC play and picked up a solid series win and springboarding them to sweep the next three.

The Rebels come into the tournament having lost two of its last three series.

The two series losses were both against teams that are in the first round (Oklahoma and Mississippi State), but did end the season taking two out of three against Auburn.

First pitch for the Razorbacks is 3 p.m. Friday at the Hoover Met in Hoover, Ala. All tournament games will be broadcast on SEC Network until the final.

The inaugural 16-team SEC Tournament championship game will be 2 p.m. May 25 on ESPN2.