Southern Miss will host its first regional since 2003

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss lost to Rice Sunday in the Conference USA Championship, but the team has moved on from that.

The Golden Eagles had their regional watch party Monday at Mughshots Bar & Grill where the team and dozens of fans celebrated together when it was announced that Southern Miss will host its first regional since 2003.

Head coach, Scott Berry said, "Everybody's got a new sense of urgency about themselves. This is a whole new season for everybody. 64 people trying to be one of the eight standing in Omaha. It's a great field of four that I feel like will certainly provide a lot of entertainment for everybody in Hattiesburg."

The Golden Eagles lost in the Tallahassee Regional last year and want to redeem themselves this year.

First baseman, Dylan Burdeaux said, "It's definitely an awesome feeling knowing that I'm going to be able to play in front of our fans one more time this weekend. I'm definitely ready for it. I'm already excited. This whole team is excited to get at the Pete and play one more weekend there."

"We got a lot of guys who've been here before and that's something we couldn't say on last year's team. It was I think everyone's first regional experience. So a lot of our guys have been through this. They know what it's like. They know the pressure and they know the atmosphere we’re going to be playing under," said left-handed pitcher, Kirk McCarty.

Their first game will be played on Friday at 1 p.m. against Illinois-Chicago.

The other two teams that are in the Hattiesburg Regional are Mississippi State and South Alabama.

Tickets will be available for purchase starting Tuesday.