SAN MATEO, Calif. - After winning its second straight WCC softball title, LMU clinched an automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals as announced on Sunday afternoon by the NCAA. The Lions will stay in-state and play in the Stanford Regional from May 19-21 at Boyd And Jill Smith Family Stadium on the Stanford campus, hosted by the No. 9 seed Cardinal.

The Lions will meet Florida in its first game, while the Cardinal will play Long Beach State in the other regional opener. The winner of the Stanford regional will advance to the Super Regionals to play the winner of the Duke Regional hosted by the No. 8 seeded Blue Devils. Florida has won all four of the previous meetings against LMU, most recently in 2018. 

LMU (27-20, 12-3) won its second straight Conference title - outright this time in 2023 - after defeating San Diego in the first game of yesterday's double header on the final day of the regular season. Saint Mary's beat BYU in both games of their doubleheader, allowing the Lions to take the title over the Cougars by one game. 

The Lions are making their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and second straight after competing in the UCLA Regional last year. LMU is 3-6 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Lions earned two wins in the 2007 regional before defeating Ole Miss in their first game last year in the UCLA Regional. 

The top team from each of the 16 regional sites will advance to the NCAA Super Regionals held May 25-28 on eight campus sites. At each site, two teams play in a best-of-three tournament format. The winners from each site advance to the NCAA Women's College World Series (WCWS) from June 1-9.