After grabbing a quick lunch, Georgia players and coaches excused themselves to watch Monday's televised announcement of the field for the NCAA Baseball Tournament.

But unlike last year, there wasn't a lot of jumping around.

"I think that just kind of comes with the standards that we hold ourselves to this year," sophomore pitcher Emerson Hancock said. "We knew we were going to be a very good team. We were building off what we did last year, and we kind of set that as another goal, to have that Top 8 national seed. And I think a lot of guys, through their experience, just see this as another year for us."

Georgia, the No. 4 seed in the tournament, will face an interesting field for the double-elimination tourney that gets underway Friday at noon, with Florida State (36-21) taking on Florida Atlantic (40-19).

At 7, the Bulldogs will play in-state rival Mercer (36-28), which earned a spot in the tourney via winning the Southern Conference Championship over the weekend.

"I'm excited. This is what the team and I have been working for since that game (the finals of the 2018 Athens Regionals) ended against Duke. That's what we've been pushing for—all the 6 a.m. workouts in the fall, all the mental toughness stuff we've been going through, all the tough games. We're really excited about being able to get back here."

Should the Bulldogs advance, Georgia will host the best-of-three Super Regional against the winner of the Baton Rouge Regional featuring host LSU, Stoney Brook, Southern Miss, and Arizona State.

"Last year we were wondering if we were going to be a Top 8. We were hoping we were—we were right on the bubble there—so the excitement of getting that Top 8 was there," head coach Scott Stricklin said. "This year, we knew we were going to be a Top 4. The only things we didn't know was if we were going to be No. 3 or No. 4."

The addition of Florida State in the Athens Regional makes for another interesting story line as long-time Seminole head coach Mike Martin will retire after the season.

"There's a lot of Georgia kids on those rosters, especially Mercer and Florida State. It's a tough regional. It's a tough draw. Mercer is really good; they just won their conference tournament, and they got on a roll," Stricklin said. "In Florida State, you've got Mike Martin coming in for his swan song. I hope all the games are well-played; I hope everybody stays healthy. I hope we can advance, but it's going to be a big challenge."

Georgia is one of four SEC schools to be awarded national seeds, joining Vanderbilt (No. 2), Arkansas (No. 5), and Mississippi State (No. 6).

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Hancock joked that he never knew a person's thumb could garner so much attention.

The sophomore right-hander had to leave Friday's SEC Tournament game against Ole Miss after his index finger sliced the cuticle on the top of his thumb. Hancock was pulled as a precaution, but didn't even have a bandage when he spoke to the media Monday afternoon.

"I couldn't get it to stop bleeding, but I didn't think it was that big of a deal," Hancock said. "But then I go on Twitter, and everybody thought I got my hand chopped off. But no, I'm good. It just wouldn't stop bleeding on the field. It wasn't pain, it wasn't anything. I had told Mason (catcher Mason Meadows) to give the signs again, and I saw some blood come off. But it's fine. I'm good."

Stricklin said it remains to be seen how he and pitching coach Sean Kenny will set the rotation up for the regional.

"We're not 100 percent sure yet, but certainly you're going to see Emerson Hancock, Tony Locey, Cole Wilcox, and Tim Elliott in some of that order," Stricklin said. "We don't know what we're going to do yet. We'll sit down as a staff this afternoon and start breaking down film, getting scouting reports ready, and we'll alert the staff either tonight or tomorrow what the rotation is going to be."