Kentucky softball qualifies for its 14th straight NCAA Tournament

Kentucky’s softball team is headed to Evanston, Illinois, for its NCAA Tournament opener.

The field was announced Sunday night, with UK being part of 12th-seeded Northwestern’s four-team regional, along with Miami (Ohio) and Eastern Illinois. It was the 14th straight time Kentucky (30-20-1) has made the NCAA Tournament field.

Kentucky, the No. 2 seed in the regional, will play third-seeded Miami (37-18), the Mid-Amercian Conference regular-season champions, at 1 p.m. Friday in the first game of the regional. The game will be televised on the SEC Network. Northwestern’s game against Eastern Illinois is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Friday with coverage on ESPN Plus.

The double-elimination regional will continue Saturday and Sunday.

Kentucky heads into the NCAA Tournament with Kayla Kowalik (.450 batting average, 10 doubles, 21 RBI) and Erin Coffel (.427, 10 doubles, 17 home runs, 51 RBI) leading the way at the plate. Stephanie Schoonover, UK’s ace, is 12-2 with a 1.90 ERA while Alexia Lacatena is 11-7 with a 3.49 ERA.

The Louisville (35-18) and Northern Kentucky (23-30) softball teams also made the field, with both being part of No. 4 seed Tennessee’s Knoxville Regional. The Cardinals and Indiana (42-16) will play at 3 p.m. Friday, with Tennessee (44-8) and the Horizon League Tournament champion Norse’s matchup following at 5:30 p.m. Both games will air on ESPN2.

Oklahoma earned the No. 1 overall seed, followed by UCLA, Florida State, Tennessee and Alabama.