CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Virginia baseball is back in the NCAA tournament. The Cavaliers, under first-year coach Chris Pollard, will open play in the Hattiesburg Regional on Friday against Jacksonville State.

The region is hosted by No. 9 national seed Southern Miss and also includes Little Rock. Virginia plays the Gamecocks, the Conference USA champions, at 7 p.m. on Friday at Pete Taylor Park.

UVA missed last year’s tournament. In the offseason, coach Brian O’Connor left for Mississippi State and Virginia hired Pollard away from Duke.

The Cavaliers are 36-21 this year. They beat Duke in the first round of the ACC tournament in Charlotte, N.C. on Wednesday, before falling to top-seed Georgia Tech.