Arkansas baseball vs. Creighton scouting report, prediction for Fayetteville Regional

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas baseball has a chance to move within one win of the super regionals Saturday night in what should be a raucous environment inside Baum-Walker Stadium.

The top-seeded Razorbacks (44-13) will face three-seed Creighton in the winners bracket of the Fayetteville Regional. Arkansas opened its NCAA Tournament run with a 6-2 victory over North Dakota State on Friday afternoon.

The Blue Jays' bats ensured a date with the Hogs. Creighton slapped 16 hits in an 11-4 victory over two-seed Kansas Friday night.

Here are two things to watch and a prediction for the upcoming showdown between Arkansas and Creighton.

Can Creighton's bats stay hot against Arkansas baseball?

Creighton features one of the least explosive offenses in the NCAA Tournament field. The Blue Jays' 47 home runs rank 198th in the country, and no one on the team has hit more than nine.

But the Jays put up 11 runs against Kansas and have scored at least seven in each of their last six games. The offense is getting hot at the right time and has some depth. Seven different players crossed home in the win over the Jayhawks. Nolan Sailors led the way, coming a single short of the cycle with three hits and four RBIs.

Will the Razorbacks get a quality start on the mound?

The only weakness this season for Arkansas has been its lack of long outings from starting pitchers. As of Friday night, the Hogs had not announced who will get the ball Saturday night, but lefty Zach Root is the most likely candidate.

Root (6-5, 4.07 ERA) has thrown seven innings in his last two starts. Prior to those brief appearances, he allowed two earned runs in 14 innings against Texas and LSU. Another option is Gage Wood, but he hasn't thrown more than four innings since returning from injury in April.

Prediction: Arkansas advances to Fayetteville Regional final

The Hogs have been building toward this moment. Creighton's lights-out bullpen and strong defense will be no pushover, but Arkansas has the power in its lineup and the depth in its own pitching staff to get the job done. If it is the lefty, Arkansas needs Root at his best.

Jackson Fuller covers Arkansas football, basketball and baseball for the Southwest Times Record, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at jfuller@gannett.com or follow him@jacksonfuller16 on X, formerly known as Twitter.