McNeese softball will travel to the West Coast for the NCAA tournament, visiting Seattle to play in a regional hosted by the University of Washington.

The Cowgirls (44-14) will play Minnesota (37-17) in the opening round at 5:30 p.m. Friday. Washington (38-12), the No. 7 national seed, will open against Northern Colorado (26-21) at 8 p.m. The regional will continue through Sunday.

McNeese beat Washington 3-2 in Lake Charles on Feb. 20 in a regular season game, The Huskies were ranked No. 12 in the country at the time.

Washington will be hosting a regional for the seventh straight season. Last year Washington lost the regional championship game to Texas.

Washington has appeared in the Women’s College World Series 14 times since 1996, winning the national championship in 2009.

McNeese reached the championship round of the Evanston Regional last season, losing to host Northwestern after beating Notre Dame twice at the regional. The Cowgirls will be appearing in the NCAA tournament for the third straight season.

The Cowgirls enter the tournament on a 10-game winning streak after winning their final seven regular season games and winning all three games at the Southland Conference tournament.

The winner of the Seattle region will play the winner of the Baton Rouge regional in a best of three series in the Super Regional round. UL-Lafayette, Nebraska-Omaha and Prairie View are also taking part in the Baton Rouge regional.