LAKE CHARLES— McNeese softball, the 2022 Southland Conference Tournament Champions are headed to Evanston, Illinois for the first round of the 2022 NCAA Softball Tournament.
 
The Cowgirls, the regions No. 3 seed will open tournament play on Friday, May 20 at 1 p.m. (Central Time) against No. 2 seed Notre Dame (39-10). The game will broadcast on ESPN+. Notre Dame received an at-large bid as the Fighting Irish dropped out of the ACC Tournament in the first round via Clemson.
 
Northwestern (40-10), a member of the Big 10 and the overall No. 9 seed will play the No. 4 seed Oakland (26-15) at 3:30 p.m. Friday. The Wildcats fell to Michigan in the semifinals of the Big 10 Tournament while Oakland won the Horizon League Tournament to earn the automatic bid.  
 
The Cowgirls are making their eighth NCAA Tournament appearance and it will be the second meeting against the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame defeated McNeese 6-1 on March 1, 2003 at the UL-Lafayette Classic.

COMPLETE REGION SCHEDULE (All times Central)

Friday, May 20
Game 1 - Notre Dame vs. McNeese - 1 p.m. CT - ESPN+
Game 2 - Northwestern vs. Oakland - 3:30 p.m. CT - ESPN+

Saturday, May 21
Game 3 - Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 - 12 p.m. CT
Game 4 - Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 - 2:30 p.m. CT
Game 5 - Loser of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4 - 5 p.m. CT

Sunday, May 22
Game 6 - Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5 - 3 p.m. CT
Game 7 (if necessary) - 5:30 p.m. CT