By Otis Kirk

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas is set to host the Fayetteville Regional beginning tonight marking the third year in a row they have done so which is a school first in history.

Arkansas is the No. 11-overall seed and will face Harvard at 6:30 p.m. tonight. Arkansas coach Courtney Deifel talked about hosting the regional.

“We're excited to play another weekend in Bogle with earning a national seed,” Deifel said. “We are looking forward to a really exciting weekend. We have three very tough teams that we're welcoming in this weekend, and we're excited about the postseason.”

In additon to Harvard, Notre Dame and Oregon will open regional play at 4 p.m. today. Arkansas pitcher Chenise Delce is also excited for another weekend at Bogle Park.

“I think it's huge getting to play at home,” Delce said. ”You have your home base, the people know you, they're cheering for you by name. It definitely gives you more of a push than when you play at other places. So yeah, I would argue that we probably have the best fanbase in the nation, but hey, I'm biased.”

Oregon is the No. 2 seed in this regional and Bogle Park is almost becoming a postseason home way from home for them. They were in this regional last year falling to Arkansas in the finals.

“Yeah, we were just talking about this,” senior Terra McGowan said. “It's kind of fun, though, to be on the bus ride here and recognizing the restaurant we ate at last year. It's a very comfortable environment, and I'm just happy to be here.”

Notre Dame hopes to make some noise in the regional after being one of the last teams selected to the tournament.

"We are super excited to be here. We are here hopefully to do some damage and make this place interesting,” Notre Dame head coach Deanna Gumpf. “So that is our goal, that is our plan, and I think we're in a really good place to just attack the game.”

Play will continue on Saturday with three games. The finals are set for Sunday.