Texas State softball was one of 64 teams invited to compete in the 2023 NCAA Tournament Regionals by the selection committee Sunday night. 
The Bobcats were selected as the Sun Belt Conference’s lone at large bid and will now make the short trip up I-35 to play in the Austin Regional. 
“This is a great regional for us,” Head Coach Ricci Woodard said in a statement. “We get to go into somewhere we’re familiar with, a place we’ve had success this season, play teams we know, and just focus on playing our best softball.”
The Bobcats are part of a four-team, double-elimination regional and will be joined by Texas A&M, Seton Hall and the host team the University of Texas. 
Texas State was chosen as the third seed in the Austin Regional and will face second seed Texas A&M in its first game on Friday. This will be the second time these two teams have met this season. The previous matchup resulted in an 8-6 six inning Texas A&M victory in College Station. 
Texas State finished the 2023 regular season with a 34-23-1 overall record and a 13-9-1 record in conference play. The Bobcats were eliminated from the Sun Belt Conference Tournament by Louisiana-Lafayette for the second consecutive year Friday night.  
Texas State will be making its 11^th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and currently owns a 10-19 postseason record. This will also be the fourth time the team has been selected to play in the Austin regional. 
The last time the Bobcats made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament was in the 2021 season where they were eliminated by the University of Oregon 2-0 in the Austin Regional.  
The regional will be double-elimination and the team left standing will advance to the super-regional round of the tournament and face the winner of the Knoxville Regional.  
“I’m excited that we got the recognition we have worked so hard for,” junior pitcher Jessica Mullins said. “Making a regional isn’t easy and any team we face will not be easy, but if we play to our true potential like we have been, we will conquer anyone in our path. I’m so excited to get this far with this team. I love each and every one of them and there no other team I’d rather be in this spot with.”
Opening pitch between Texas State and Texas A&M is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday, May. 19 at McCombs Field in Austin, Texas. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.