PENSACOLA,Fla. – The University of Montevallo baseball team is gearing up for the NCAA Division II Baseball Championships and South Regional, Wednesday, with practice, before taking to the field Thursday.

"It's just great to be here with the guys, we are ready to go," said senior shortstop Matt Simon. "I think the big thing is how much we have prepared throughout the year. We want to enjoy out time here but we have the mindset that we will win. We have to take it game by game."

The No. 3 seeded Falcons will open the NCAA Division-II South Regional against No. 6 seeded Barry on Thursday, May 18, at 12 p.m. at Jim Spooner Field in Pensacola, Florida. The game will be broadcasted live on Goargos.com and a live audio-only broadcast of the game can be found at the Falcons Athletics Network Youtube Channel. Links to tickets and live stats can be found on MontevalloFalcons.com.

Montevallo travels to the regional tournament for the fourth time in program history and the first time since 2018. The Falcons are seeking its first NCAA tournament win since 2007 after going 0-2 five years ago in Lakeland, Florida.

Montevallo enters the 56-team field, eight-team regional, and four-team sub-regional bracket following the winningest season since 2007 with a 38-14 overall record. The Falcons were given the three-seed in the South Regional after compiling the second-most in-region wins at 36.

"It feels awesome to be here," said senior Reed Latimer. "We are blessed as a team. We have worked hard to this point and we are ready to see the day and try to win this thing."

UM begins the NCAA-postseason with one of the top offenses in the nation led by one of the best hitters in Division-II in Sam Kuchinski. The Falcons have led the GSC in batting average, .323, and runs scored, 467, while ranking inside the top-25 nationwide in both categories. Kuchinski leads the charge as he is batting .425 16 homers and 69 RBI – all league highs. Additionally, he has a .555 on-base percentage which leads the GSC and ranks fifth across Division-II.

Kuchinski is one of four Falcons with 55 or more RBI on the year. Reed Latimer (66), Ben Teel (63) and Asa Awbrey (57) have all passed the benchmark and ranked in the top-10 in the GSC.

Latimer enters the South Region tournament on a three-game hit streak, the longest current streak for UM, and has 22 multi-hit games with 14 multi-RBI performances.

"This week is about fighting back," added Latimer "We know we are going to get punched in the mouth. It's regional baseball – everybody wants to win so we must keep working the whole time and never get discouraged."

Kuchinski was named the GSC Player of the Year and a First-Team All-GSC selection for the second consecutive season as he compiled a 25-game hit streak and 40-game reached base streak during the season. Additionally, he has 19 multi-hit games and 19-multi RBI games.

The Falcons will be looking for their second berth into the NCAA Division II Championship Series when the South Region Championship kicks off Thursday.

Montevallo is one of three Gulf South Conference teams to make the regional alongside No. 2 West Florida and No. 5 Valdosta State.

The Falcons are joined in Pensacola by host West Florida with No. 6 seed Barry and No. 7 seed Florida Southern.

Barry enters Pensacola with a 32-17 mark overall on the year with a 16-14 record in the Sunshine State Conference. The Bucs are batting .317 as a team and have scored 378 runs in 2023. Jo Stella leads Barry with 50 RBI on the year and is batting .343 from the plate.

"It's a blessing to be here. It's what we have talked about all year and I think we are just pumped up to get things going," said pitcher Michael Morse.

Morse gets the start in game one of the series from the mound and will look to halt the Bucs. In his last outing, Morse through six and one third innings against Alabama-Huntsville and allowed only two runs on eight hits and one walk. He also struck out four in the win.

"This team is special. We love each other," added Morse. "We look forward to games and practices. We just enjoy being around each other."

Stay up to date with Montevallo Baseball online at MontevalloFalcons.com, on twitter @UMoTownBaseball and on Instagram @MontevalloBaseball.