Jacksonville State is looking inside its own conference to see what it hopes is possible this weekend in Oxford.

The Gamecocks are the No. 4 seed in the Oxford Regional and open with the host Rebels at 7 p.m. on Friday. And while four seeds aren’t typically threats to come out of a four-team field, there’s some extra belief because of last season.

Tennessee Tech, also out of the OVC, earned the No. 2 seed in the 2018 Oxford Regional as an at-large selection. The Eagles went 27-3 in conference and 4-1 in Oxford, beating Ole Miss twice on the final day of the regional.

Tech lost the Austin Super Regional in three games.

“One of neat things is Tech goes there and wins the regional last year,” Jacksonville State coach Jim Case said. “That opens doors to your thought process. We know we’ll have to play at our very top level and it can happen.”

This is Jacksonville State’s fifth regional appearance and first since 2014 when the Gamecocks went 0-2 in Oxford including a 12-2 loss to Ole Miss.

The Gamecocks (37-21, 22-8 OVC) have won 12 in a row and 16 of their last 17 including a 3-0 record in the OVC Tournament. JSU went 2-4 in six SEC games against Alabama, Auburn and Georgia. JSU's RPI ranking is 89.

"We’re excited about (Oxford),” Case said. “In 2014 we went to Oxford and it was a great experience for us. We know a couple things: they have a great team and it will be a well supported regional. I’m excited for our guys to play in that type of atmosphere.

“There’s not an intimidation but there’s a respect factor. We played six SEC games just for something like this. At least we’ve seen this type of competition. The regional is different obviously, but we’ve seen it.”

Jacksonville State is expected to throw junior right-hander Garrett Farmer, who has started all 15 weeks. He’s 5-1 with a 2.24 ERA and .221 batting average against in 100.2 innings.

In his only Ole Miss common opponent start, Farmer threw five one-run innings in a 14-1 win over North Alabama. He struck out six and walked one. Farmer hasn’t pitched against an NCAA Tournament team this season.

“He’s the tone-setter,” Case said.