Tied for the program's highest seeding ever in the NCAA Tournament, their standing sets them up with a national seed for the second time ever, and a chance to host a Super Regional at Plainsman Park for the first time.

Freshman Austin Irby had four hits, Ethan Norby matched the longest outing of his career with a strong 7 1/3 innings and East Carolina opened the Conway Regional with a 11-6 win over Florida.

Notably, Coastal Carolina is 24-3 at home, where the regional will take place. On the road, Fairfield has the best record at 22-11, followed by Florida at 11-8 and East Carolina at 12-10. The Gators clearly hold an advantage in resume building wins and talent of opponents.

It was all East Carolina from the first pitch in the opening game of the Conway Regional as the Pirates defeated Florida 11-6 on Friday afternoon. The Gators fall into the losers bracket and will take on the loser of Coastal Carolina vs Fairfield on Saturday at noon eastern in an elimination game.

For the Florida Gators, it means trying to navigate through a tricky Conway, SC, Regional that might be trouble for the Gators despite being the betting favorite. Florida kicks off its tournament run against the East Carolina Pirates,

The Gators gave up nine runs in the first four innings as starter Liam Peterson only lasted 1 1/3 innings, giving up five hits and four runs, two of which were earned. Relievers Luke McNeillie and Blaine Rowland didn't fare much better in relief with six hits and four earned runs in a combined 2 2/3 innings.

Thousands of fans from all over will be walking the streets of Conway in less than a day.Coastal baseball is hosting its sixth NCAA regional in program history, and residents and business owners are getting ready.