USM 'Baseburg' Guide: What to Know About Every Hattiesburg Regional Participant

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – After months of projections from a variety of baseball media outlets, the Field of 64 was officially announced on Monday. As expected, the NCAA Baseball Committee rewarded Southern Miss with the 9th overall seed in the tournament, bringing postseason baseball back to Pete Taylor Park for a second consecutive year.

Along with the announcement, the committee revealed the three opponents coming to the Hattiesburg Regional to face Southern Miss, the top seed in this round: 2-seed Virginia, 3-seed Jacksonville State, and 4-seed Little Rock. This regional has the makings of being one of the more entertaining fields to watch around the country. In preparation of the exciting weekend ahead, here's a full breakdown of each team participating in the Hattiesburg Regional.

1-Seed: Southern Miss (Hattiesburg, MS)

Record: 44-15 (Sun Belt Regular Season and Tournament Champions)

Best Wins: Oregon State, Alabama, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss

NCAA Tournament History: 22nd NCAA Tournament Appearance (1 CWS Appearance - 2009), 5th time hosting a regional

Head Coach: Christian Ostrander - 3rd Season (Ron Maestri Coach of the Year winner)

Key Players to Know: Starting Pitcher Grayden Harris (10.7 strikeouts per nine innings pitched, SBC Pitcher of the Year, and All-Sun Belt First Team), Starting Pitcher Camden Clark (.98 WHIP, 13.9 strikeouts per nine innings pitched, and All-Sun Belt First Team), First Baseman Matthew Russo (.317 batting average, .956 OPS, and All-Sun Belt First Team), and Second Baseman Kyle Morrison (.313 batting average, 16 home runs, and All-Sun Belt First Team) ... and this is just a handful of the many important, impactful players USM has to offer.

Let's be clear about something: the Golden Eagles are the favorites to win this regional. Period. The committee rewarded the Golden Eagles for a reason: their ability to win a variety of games throughout a tough out-of-conference schedule. To avoid being upset at The Pete, they will need to rely heavily on their starting rotation (Harris, Clark, and Camden Sunstrom) to get deep into games.

2-Seed: Virginia (Charlottesville, VA)

Record: 36-21 (Finished 8th in the ACC)

Best Wins: UNC (x2), Wake Forest (x2), and Florida State

NCAA Tournament History: 22nd NCAA Tournament Appearance (7 CWS Appearances and 2015 CWS Champions)

Head Coach: Chris Pollard - 1st Season. One fun note about Coach Pollard: he mentioned in his post-selection show press conference that this is his first time visiting Pete Taylor Park, and that it has been a "bucket list" item for him.

Key Players to Know: Outfielder AJ Garcia (14 home runs, projected 1st round pick, and Second Team All-ACC), Shortstop Eric Becker (.322 batting average, .972 OPS, and Third Team All-ACC) and Relief Pitcher Tyler Kapa (1.82 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings pitched)

Last season, after Virginia lost a heartbreaking Super Regional final to Murray State, Coach Pollard was hired as the next head coach of the Cavaliers after having spent 13 seasons at Duke. Naturally, with the current state of college athletics, many of his players followed him to Charlottesville. This isn't a team that excels in one category, finishing 13th in the ACC in batting average (.275) and ninth in the ACC in ERA (5.18). However, they know how to hit balls out of the ballpark with 97 home runs on the year (3rd in the ACC). If they want to advance to the Super Regionals, they will need to get to an opponent's bullpen early on in games.

3-Seed: Jacksonville State (Jacksonville, AL)

Record: 46-13 (Conference USA Regular Season and Tournament Champions)

Best Wins: Auburn (x2), Cincinnati, and Troy

NCAA Tournament History: 6th NCAA Tournament Appearance

Head Coach: Steve Bieser - 3rd Season (Keith LeClair Coach of the Year winner)

Key Players to Know: Catcher Grayson Ashe (.328 batting average, 61 RBIs and First Team All-CUSA), Outfielder Jaxon Pate (.351 batting average, Conference USA Freshman of the Year, and First Team All-CUSA), Starting Pitcher Eli Pillsbury (10.5 strikeouts per nine innings pitched, 1.22 WHIP, and First Team All-CUSA), and Relief Pitcher Skyler Hutto (2.15 ERA, .93 WHIP and First Team All-CUSA)

After the Selection Show, there was a lot of debate about Jacksonville State. With a 25 RPI and 46 wins, lots of media outlets like D1Baseball projected the Gamecocks as a middle to low two seed. The reason for that? Their resume speaks for itself. They lead CUSA in team batting average (.299), hits (572), ERA (3.77), strikeouts thrown (593) and much more. Not to mention the Gamecocks' two impressive wins over Auburn, which was awarded the No. 4 national seed on selection day. With Jacksonville State's strong pitching depth, as long as the bats are clicking at the right time, it will have a great shot this weekend.

Additional Note: A lot has been made of Southern Miss' struggles against left-handed pitchers at times throughout this season. Well, every one of Jacksonville State's regular weekend starters is a southpaw hurler. It's certainly something to monitor as the weekend progresses.

4-Seed: Little Rock (Little Rock, AR)

Record: 36-26 (Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Champions)

Best Wins: Samford (x2) and Eastern Illinois (x5))

NCAA Tournament Appearance: 3rd NCAA Tournament Appearance

Head Coach: Chris Curry - 12th Season

Players to Know: Third Baseman Nolan Freund (.315 batting average, .831 OPS, and All-OVC Second Team), Outfielder Kade Smith (45 RBIs, 25 doubles, and All-OVC Second Team), Starting Pitcher Brannon Westmoreland (3.00 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and All-OVC Second Team), and Relief Pitcher Tag Andrews (3.07 ERA, 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings pitched, and All-OVC Second Team)

This program isn't afraid of the big stage. Use last year's team as a prime example. Coach Curry's team advanced all the way to the final game in the Baton Rouge Regional after beating Rhode Island, Dallas Baptist, and LSU. Little Rock ultimately lost that regional, and LSU went on to win the national championship. This neck of the woods isn't new to Curry, who played under legendary former Southern Miss head coaches Scott Berry and Corky Palmer at Meridian Community College. Like every four-seed in the country, the odds are slim for the Trojans, but never say never. If Little Rock's pitching can find a way to minimize the elite offenses it will be facing, this regional could get really interesting.

It All Comes Down to This

Everything is a clean slate this time of year. RPI, DSR, out-of-conference strength of schedule, and much more don't matter anymore. It's a double-elimination tournament, and the winner advances to the Super Regional round, which would be two wins away from the Men's College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

The Hattiesburg Regional will kick off on Friday with Southern Miss facing Little Rock on ESPN+ at 1:00 p.m. CT, followed by Virginia against Jacksonville State on ESPN+ at 5:00 p.m. CT. Stay tuned to Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI for more USM baseball coverage throughout the NCAA Tournament.

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