After the Georgia Southern Eagles lost in the Sun Belt championship on Sunday, head baseball coach Rodney Hennon said it had been a roller-coaster season. That ride continued Sunday, as one of the season’s lowest moments turned into something unprecedented in program history. 

On the five-hour drive from Montgomery back to Statesboro, the Eagle bus was quiet, with many players and coaches steadily refreshing their social media feeds, worrying whether their loss in the Sun Belt championship game would cost them a chance at hosting an NCAA Regional. Around 8:30 that night, word broke out and the bus erupted in jubilation as the Eagles found out an NCAA Regional would be played in Statesboro for the first time in school history.

The Eagles will play UNC-Greensboro at 7 p.m. Friday in J.I. Clements Stadium. Notre Dame and Texas Tech will open the regional with a game at 2 p.m. in the double-elimination format tournament.

“It was a pretty somber bus ride home,” Hennon said on Monday. “When we got the news, everything changed, and it was just the kind of shot in the arm we needed last night. The guys were fired up, and it was a totally different ride home from the moment we got the news. We are all so excited to be playing right here in Statesboro.”

Many of the Eagle players sat with their heads in their hands for a good while after losing the Sun Belt championship game, but they quickly snapped out of their funk on the way home after hearing the news they would be playing again at home. 

“For me, it has been three years that we have fallen short in the championship game, so that was tough to handle,” said senior Christian Avant. “We were on the verge of hosting, but we just didn’t know if the loss would keep us from playing at home. When we got that Twitter notification that Statesboro would be a host site was just amazing. It was awesome to be able to celebrate that with my teammates on the way home.” 

Eagle senior Noah Ledford was one of those players having a tough time shaking off the loss. He had made the final out of the game on Sunday, with the bases loaded, down by one in the ninth, and was relieved that didn’t cost the team a chance to host the regionals. 

“I was in a pretty low spot after the game, feeling I let the team down not being able to get a hit and making the last out,” Ledford said. “To be on that silent bus and then to go from zero to 100 when we got the news was unbelievable and something I will never forget. Coach Hennon was going up and down the aisle, high-fiving everyone, and people were just going nuts.”

The fact that it was a historic day was not lost on Hennon, considering the number of great Eagle teams that have played in the past. 

“I think it is important to enjoy the moment,” he said. “This is a special group, and these guys have worked really hard to put our team in this position. After losing to Tennessee to start the year and we were on the bus ride home, I don’t know how many people would have believed we would be here today, talking about hosting a regional. I think that is a real credit to these players, their resiliency and the way they persevered.” 

Rounding out the regional site is No. 2 seed 16th-ranked Notre Dame (35-14), No. 3 seed 8th-ranked Texas Tech (37-20), and the Eagles’ former Southern Conference foe, No. 4 seed UNC-Greensboro (34-28). 

“There is no question we have a strong field,” Hennon said. “Any time you make it this far, you have had to do something in order to be chosen in the field of 64. UNC-Greensboro obviously made a run through the Southern Conference, and coach Billy Godwin does a great job up there. Notre Dame and Texas Tech are traditionally strong, so we know it’s a solid field.” 

The Eagles set school records in terms of attendance and were 19-10 at J.I. Clements Stadium this year. Players and coaches are excited to be back home and are anxiously anticipating possible record attendance numbers for the regionals. 

“It is going to be great,” said former South Effingham standout and current Eagle senior Austin Thompson. “It’s a short ride here for my family, which is one of the reasons I came here. J.I. Clements is going to be rocking, and I just can’t wait to play in it.”

Avant added: “Coming into Statesboro is going to be a culture shock for some of these teams. J.I. Clements fans get rowdy, and the Clements Crazies are going to be giving all of them a hard time, so I think that is going to be good for us.” 

Notre Dame and Texas Tech will meet in the first game Friday starting at 2 p.m. Georgia Southern and UNCG are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

All-region ticket packages are on sale now. If any tickets remain, single-game tickets will go on sale Thursday at noon. Tickets can be purchased at GSEagles.com/Tickets.