TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Jax State softball will play in an NCAA Regional for the first time since 2018, but it's a spot that's familiar to the program.
 
The Gamecocks are one of four teams at the Tallahassee Regional hosted by Florida State University. Play begins on Friday at 11 a.m. Central; the first game for Jax State is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. Central against UCF.
 
The two prior regional appearances for the program were also in Tallahassee, netting a runner-up finish in 2018 to the eventual national champion Seminoles of FSU.
 
Jax State earned its 10^th regional appearance in program history by winning the Conference USA Tournament Championship. It marked the 20^th conference title in program history but the first in CUSA and did so in their third year of membership.
 
Senior outfielder Morgan Nowakowski was the tournament's most valuable player after hitting .636 with seven RBIs. The Huntsville native also drew four walks and a hit by pitch to post a .750 on-base percentage. Sophomore third baseman Jaci Underwood came through with six runs scored and five hits during the tournament.
 
In the circle, MacKinley Portillo picked up the win in the championship game by working 4.2 innings out of the bullpen while allowing just one earned run.
 
Tomorrow's game against UCF will be the first meeting between the teams since 2007 when UCF won 5-0 on March 2, 2007. The Knights hold a 38-16-1 record this season and had been ranked as high as 15^th this season. This is the 13^th NCAA Tournament bid and sixth consecutive for the Knights.
 
Second baseman Sierra Humphreys earned First-Team All-Big XII honors and leads the team with a .390 batting average with 15 doubles, 13 homers, and 13 RBIs. She has only struck out 14 times in 186 plate appearances.
 
In the circle, Isabella Vega is 17-8 with a 2.89 ERA with 98 strikeouts in 140.2 innings of work.   
 
The four-team, double-elimination tournament has the host Seminoles; the overall ninth national seed taking on ASUN champion Stetson.
 
Florida State swept the ACC regular season and tournament championships to run their grand total to 39 ACC titles and are 49-8 this season. The Seminoles are making their 26^th consecutive NCAA Regional and are a host for the 12^th-straight time.
 
Junior Isa Torres is a national player of the year candidate with a .542 average, 16 homers, and has a .605 on-base percentage. In the circle, Jazzy Francik is 22-2 with a 1.75 ERA, having struck out 106 in 140.1 innings. Ashtyn Danley is 12-1 and has struck out 83 in 89.1 innings.
 
The Hatters of Stetson are 36-20 after outscoring their opponents in the ASUN Tournament 16-4 with a shutout win over Central Arkansas to give Stetson its first ASUN Tournament title since 2014.
 
ASUN Player of the Year Nicole Edmiaston is hitting .465 and set program records for homers (22), RBIs (69), and total bases (147). Logan Forman (15) and Irianis Garcia (11) also have double digit home run numbers this season. Ava Braswell has a 19-10 record with a .233 average against in 152.2 innings of work.
 
The winner of the Tallahassee Regional will face the winner of the Los Angeles Regional in next week's Super Regional.