South Carolina got a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament's East Carolina Regional. The Gamecocks, though, talk a lot like the favorite in the four-team bracket.

"I don't think anyone can beat us if we play good ball," first baseman Nick Ebert said Wednesday. "Our pitching's awesome right now. No one can stop our pitching. Our hitting's getting the job done, we'll hit a little bit better this weekend. I don't think we're going to face as good pitching as we did" at last week's Southeastern Conference tournament.

South Carolina (38-21) opens NCAA play Friday in Greenville, N.C., against George Mason (42-12). Also in the regional are host and top-seeded East Carolina (42-17) and Binghamton (29-20).

A month ago, the Gamecocks wondered if they would even make it to their 10th consecutive regional. But a late-season surge -- winning 10 of their past 11 regular-season games -- took away all doubt.

"I'm very, very happy that we're in the conversation," coach Ray Tanner said.

Ebert, South Carolina's leader with 22 home runs and 71 RBI, said the players talked among themselves and vowed to play as hard as they could down the stretch. The result? Sweeps in two of their final three SEC series against NCAA participants Vanderbilt and Georgia.

Losing two out of three in the SEC tournament last week hasn't slowed them down a bit, Ebert said.

"I don't think East Carolina or anyone is saying, 'Oh, good thing South Carolina is in the tournament with us,'" Ebert said. "I think everybody is fearing us."

They certainly have to respect South Carolina's pitching. Sam Dyson and Blake Cooper, the Gamecocks' scheduled starters the first two games, have combined to go 16-8 this season with 148 strikeouts and just 60 walks.

Those two, along with regular season weekend starter Nolan Belcher, a former Greenbrier standout, have gotten into a rhythm that fueled the Gamecocks run.

"I think we have more confidence as a team itself," Cooper said.