HAMMOND, La. – The Southland Conference Tournament champion Southeastern Louisiana University softball team will compete in the Tuscaloosa Regional for its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
 
SLU (45-13) will face Clemson (34-17) to open regional play Friday at 1 p.m. (CDT). Host and No. 14 national seed Alabama (33-17) and USC Upstate (30-21) will also be part of the regional and will meet Friday at 3:30 p.m. (CDT). Friday's game with the Tigers will air on ACC Network.
 
Southeastern clinched its spot in the 64-team field in dramatic fashion. SLC Tournament MVP Lexi Johnson hit a walk-off three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Lady Lions an 8-7 victory over UIW in Friday's championship game of the North Oaks Health System SLC Softball Championship.
 
"We're excited to have the opportunity to compete in the NCAA Tournament," Southeastern ninth-year head coach Rick Fremin commented. "We've had a chance to rest and recover from the conference tournament. We're ready to put our best product on the field this week and make Louisiana proud."
 
Sunday's selection is the capper for the winningest three-year stretch in the history of the SLU program. Southeastern, in the midst of its third straight season of 40 wins or more, is 132-43 since the start of the 2022 campaign.
 
Clemson is led at the plate by Valerie Cagle (.365) and the Tigers are hitting .298 as a team. The quartet of Regan Spencer (10-4, 1.95 ERA, 1 save), Cagle (8-6, 2.39 ERA, 2 saves), Millie Thompson (6-5, 1.79 ERA, 1 save) and Brooke McCubbin (10-2, 2.61 ERA, 1 save) have handled the majority of the work in the circle for a Clemson team that carries a 2.22 team ERA.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Softball, follow @LionUpSoftball on X and Instagram, like /LionUpAthletics on Facebook.
 
HOME RUN CLUB / S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the softball program are encouraged to join the Home Run Club. Lady Lion softball alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
 
All membership fees and donations to both the Home Run Club and S Club (softball) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern softball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
 
TICKETS
For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit  . Southeastern offers mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets. All tickets will be available via e-mail in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.
 
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics has a clear bag policy for all ticketed events. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/clear.