In the No. 4 NCAA Softball Regional Tournament, four schools are hoping for help from a little thing called home-state advantage.
While host school and No. 1-seeded Florida State will have the most claim to that advantage, Florida, South Florida and Bethune-Cookman also want to feed off the short travel plans.
Long Island is the only other team of the eight that doesn’t have to change time zones. Ohio State also heads to Tallahassee, Fla., with hope of a Regional title while Cal State Northridge and Oregon will make the longest trip.
For a closer look at the region, the teams are broken down in order of their seeding:

No. 1 Florida State
Florida State (57-9 overall), ranked No. 5 in the ESPN/USA Softball Top 25, won its 10th conference title in the past 13 years to earn its fifth consecutive regional berth.
Leading the way for the Atlantic Coast Conference champions are Casey Hunter, ACC Tournament MVP, and Jessica van der Linden, a finalist for USA Softball Player of the Year. Hunter has a 0.52 ERA in 230 2/3 innings pitched while van der Linden has started every game for Florida State and is batting a team-leading .384.
“I don’t know too much about Long Island (Florida State’s first opponent), but I do know that they are a conference champion and very well coached,” Florida State head coach Dr. JoAnne Graf said in a release Sunday. “At this level anyone can beat anyone else. We will go into this game the same way we would if it were UCLA.”
Florida State will face Long Island at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in the final first round game.

No. 2 Oregon
In head coach Kathy Arendsen’s second season, the No. 12 Ducks (38-19) continued to find new feats; this time, beating each Pacific-10 Conference opponent at least once for the first time since 1998. Offensively, third baseman Ashley Richards (.317 batting average) and catcher Jenn Poore (.312) lead the way, as the two have held the team’s top two batting averages most of the season.
“I think this is an excellent opportunity for our team,” Arendsen said Sunday. “We have played at Florida State and we have traveled to Florida this season, so I feel that the players know a little of what to expect. It’s very
exciting to be continuing our season and to have this opportunity.”
The Ducks play Bethune-Cookman at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

No. 3 South Florida
The Bulls (57-12), ranked 19th in the country, were eliminated Saturday by DePaul in the Conference USA Tournament after winning their first two games of the conference title race.
Four seniors depart from South Florida after this season, including the Bulls’ two leading hitters. Holly Groves tops the team with a .424 batting average and Leigh Ann Ellis is second at .400.
“We are very excited for the opportunity to play in regionals,” associate head coach Stacey Heintz said in a release Sunday. “It’s great to be able to play in the state and have our family and friends there with us to join us as we go for our goal to play in the College World Series.”
South Florida plays Ohio State to open the Tallahassee regional at 7 a.m. Thursday.

No. 4 Florida
The 21st-ranked Gators (40-18) ended their season Friday with a 7-5 loss to Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference Softball Tournament. Sophomore Kristen Butler leads Florida with a .311 batting average and 26 RBI.
“I am glad that we can play close to home,” head coach Karen Johns said in a release Sunday. “It will be great to play in front of some Florida fans as we set out to win a regional and advance to the College World Series.”
Florida will face Northridge at noon Thursday.

No. 5 Cal State Northridge
Northridge (33-17), one of four Big West Conference teams to be selected for NCAA regional play, closed its regular season with a 3-2 loss to Big West champion Long Beach State. The Matadors have lost twice to Florida this season, both by a 6-1 score in a doubleheader March 12.
The Matadors had a 12-game winning streak coming into Friday’s doubleheader against Long Beach State, but they lost both games.

No. 6 Ohio State
The Buckeyes (34-23) are fresh off a No. 6 seed in the Big Ten Tournament last weekend. After a 5-1 win against No. 3-seeded Iowa, Ohio State lost to No. 2-seeded Illinois, 5-0. Ohio State finished 8-11 in conference play.
Senior pitcher Kristi DeVries, Ohio State’s go-to pitcher, recently became the second Buckeye ever to throw more than 600 career strikeouts. DeVries passed the 500- and 600-strikeout milestone this season and currently has 613 in her career.

No. 7 Bethune-Cookman
The Wildcats (44-26), from Daytona Beach, Fla., won their fifth-straight Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship to garner a spot in the NCAA Regionals. Bethune-Cookman has never won a game in regional play, but the Wildcats are on a roll after coming from the losers’ bracket to win the MEAC title.

No. 8 Long Island
Long Island (27-26) earned a berth in the tournament with its eighth Northeast Conference title. The Blackbirds are led by freshman Jessie DePippo, who is batting .373 while playing catcher. Three more Long Island players — Sayde Marzolf (.370), Krystal Mejia (.346) and Alicia Ciccarello (.304) — are batting over .300 this season.