INDIANAPOLIS, IN – After winning its first-ever conference tournament championship, the Monmouth University softball team drew No. 10 Tennessee (45-12) during the NCAA Softball Championship Selection Show on Sunday night. The teams will clash in Knoxville on Friday, May 18 at 5:30 PM, with the winner set to face James Madison or Ohio.

Regionals for the NCAA Division I Softball Championship will be held May 18-20, 2018 on 16 campus sites. At each campus site, a four-team, double-elimination tournament will be conducted and the 16 winning teams advanced to the Super Regionals.

"This group has just been so special," said Monmouth head coach Shannon Salsburg. "You could tell there was just something different there as they grew together. Our senior leadership explained to the team that we want to be better than where we've been. They bought into the vision and were able to execute. In Knoxville, were going to do what we've been doing all year, which is focusing on us instead of the opponent."

The Hawks have won 24 of their last 25 games heading into the NCAA Championship, including the win over Fairfield for the MAAC Championship on Saturday afternoon.
After registering a 19-1 MAAC record and its first Regular Season Championship since 1999, Monmouth won all three games in the conference tournament to earn the historic tournament title.

In the first game of the MAAC Championships, the Hawks handled No. 5 seed Manhattan by a score of 3-1. A day later, Monmouth battled to defeat No. 2 Fairfield with a walk-off home run by senior Alex Holzman in the 14^th inning. In the championship game, the Blue & White scored five runs in the fifth inning against the Stags, including two-run home runs by sophomores Sam Tomasetti and Amber Wozniak.

Seven Hawks were named to an All-MAAC Team following the regular season. Senior Amanda Riley, senior Katie Baron, senior Alex Holzman, and Wozniak were all placed on the First Team, while Tomasetti, senior Chloe Howerth, and sophomore Kayla Rosado were placed on the Second Team. In addition, Riley was named MAAC Pitcher of the Year after going 11-0 in conference play. Since March 31, Riley is 15-0 with a 1.05 ERA and 141 strikeouts. Head Coach Shannon Salsburg was named MAAC Coach of the Year following the historic season as well.

Friday's matchup will be available to stream on ESPN3. Follow @MonmouthSB on Twitter for daily updates.