No matter where Devin Obee’s career takes him, Duke head coach Chris Pollard said he’ll always be a big fan.

“I’m proud of him. Proud of the job he's done this year. I got a chance to talk to him a little bit before our practice starts, and I reminded him I'll always be in his corner,” Pollard said. “He's got a lot of baseball left in front of him. Regardless of what happens in this regional, he's going to keep playing this game for a long time.”

A graduate transfer, Obee matriculated to Georgia in early January after spending his previous three seasons in Durham, earning his degree.

That included an outstanding junior year that saw him hit .309 with 16 homers and 50 RBI. He also earned MVP honors in last year’s ACC Tournament.

“When I saw the bracket, I thought it was just a great opportunity to be able to see some of my old teammates and old friends be able to play on the same ball field again,” Obee said. “To be able to compete against them is amazing.”

There were no hard feelings either way.

Along with his conversation with Pollard, Obey caught up with a number of his former teammates, exchanging handshakes and hugs.

“Devin had a great career. Obviously, he left Duke with an ACC championship and a Duke degree. But with him, it goes beyond just what you can see on paper,” Pollard said. “Devin was a great leader for us. He was a great teammate and just a fun person to be around day in and day out. I miss him.”

Wes Johnson learned a long time ago not to take anything for granted.

That’s especially true when you’re talking about the first game of the NCAA Tournament. Although it’s double elimination, you'd better win that first game.

Hence, his decision to go with veteran Leighton Finley as his starting pitcher in Friday’s opening game (Noon, SEC Network).

“You’ve got to win Game One, and then if you're fortunate enough to do that, you move to Game Two, and everybody's hot,” Johnson said. “If you start trying to map out starting pitching in a regional, you can get yourself in trouble by not using your best guys. So, we're going to try and win each game, then we'll move on. But I think that's the strength of something that helps us. We have depth in our pitching staff, so I don't worry about who's starting as much.”

Georgia knows not to take the Bearcats (27-24) lightly.

Last year in the Athens Regional against Army, Finley was charged with four runs in 3.2 innings as Army jumped out to a 4-3 lead. The Bulldogs eventually won, 8-7.

Georgia’s opponent, Binghamton, has a saying when asked by UGASports to describe their style of play.

“Gritty over pretty,” third baseman Devan Bade said.

It means just what you think.

“When we start every inning, we get our buzz on our watch when we're down, and it usually says gritty over pretty,” Bade said. “We're always trying to remind ourselves that it doesn't have to be pretty. We're just trying to get the job done, no matter how it looks.”

That description basically sums up the season for the Bearcats, which includes wins of 8-7 and 5-2 at Missouri.

“That's how we did it through the conference tournament. That's how we did it through the whole year, looking at a record and looking at some games. It wasn't always pretty, but we always got the job done,” Bade said. “And that's what we're going to continue to do here, too.”

Binghamton took a team picture, and players were seen after practice taking photos of their surroundings at Foley Field.

Still, Bearcat head coach Tim Sinicki said not to let the excitement of being in the NCAA Tournament fool you. His team may be the fourth seed, but it’s here to win.

“You want your guys to have fun at the same time and enjoy it and remember it and everything, don't you?” Sinicki said. “These are memories we hope that last a lifetime for them, but at the same time, we don't come to these events to be tourists. We want to compete, and we want to play hard. We want to represent the conference and our university the right way.”

Still, Sinicki – who graduated and played at nearby Western Carolina - knows what his team is up against when it takes on Georgia Friday at noon.

“We know we're going to be a four seed pretty much every year. We're going to get a national seed, and that's okay,” he said. “We're you know looking forward to the opportunity to compete, especially against a club that has a rich tradition and history like Georgia has at an unbelievable facility and a great fan base.”

When Georgia was getting its new “AstroTurf” field installed, so too was Duke.

“We got ours installed almost within the few days that Georgia got theirs installed, same company, everything,” Pollard said. “So, we came in kind of with an idea that the turf would play pretty similar to our turf.”

Pollard hopes the familiarity will play to his team’s advantage, starting with Friday night’s opening game against Oklahoma State.

“I've been on some teams that could transition back and forth between turf and grass really easily,” he said. “I would tell you I'm not sure we've been great at that this year, so it was a little bit of a sigh of relief when I saw that we were going to be on turf.”

…The Blue Devils walked 382 times this year. That’s the most in the country.

…Duke is averaging 9.72 runs over its past 11 games. Over that stretch, the Blue Devils have scored 10-plus runs five times.

…The Blue Devils are 31-1, once leading after six innings.

…Senior shortstop Wallace Clark has continued to get on base any way he can. Along with getting 58 hits, he’s walked 52 times and, over his career,r has been hit by pitches 40 times.

…The Cowboys are 28-23 but have won 10 of its last 11 games.

…Oklahoma State is hitting .254 as a team. The Cowboys are led by Brayden Smith in batting at .312, while two-time All-American Nolan Schubart leads the program with 17 home runs. OSU was having no problem hitting homers during Thursday’s batting session, sending numerous home runs over the fence.

…The Cowboys are making their 50th appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

…The Bearcats went 4-1 to capture the America East Tournament last weekend. Binghamton is making its sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

…Former Bulldog baseball great Brian Jester is an athletic administrator at Binghamton.

…The Bearcats led the America East in hitting at .295, averaging 7.3 runs per game.

…Binghamton ranked 27th overall in the country in fielding with a .978 mark.