The St. Thomas softball team will make its 15th NCAA playoff appearance in the past 17 seasons, as it takes on No. 19-ranked Augustana College (Ill.) on May 9, at Clark Field in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in the first round of the NCAA regional tournament.

The No. 15-ranked Tommies (36-5) earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament after winning the MIAC playoffs for the 11th straight season with a 7-2 win over Bethel Saturday at Macalester. The win extended the Tommies’ win streak to 20 games.

Augustana (33-11) is making its seventh NCAA tournament appearance in program history. The Vikings received an at-large bid to the tournament after losing in their conference championship to Illinois Wesleyan 10-9.

The Vikings are led offensively by Laura Behnke, who leads the team in home runs and triples, and is tied for the team lead in RBIs. The pitching staff is bolstered by Sarah Hintz, who has a record of 17-4 on the season while posting a 1.36 ERA.

The Tommies enter the regional playoffs with a high powered offense. All starters ended the season with batting averages above .300, with a team average of .329. Shortstop Jenna Hoffman led the MIAC in batting average, hitting .478, while designated hitter Brenna Walek and catcher Emily Gregory finished first and second, respectively, in the conference in home runs.

St. Thomas played Augustana last year in the NCAA regional tournament, where the Tommies defeated the Vikings 5-4 to eliminate them from the postseason.

The winner of the St. Thomas/Augustana matchup will face the winner of Coe College (Iowa) and St. Scholastica.