CLINTON, Miss. | The No. 6 seed UAH softball team starts play in the 2024 NCAA Division II South 2 Regional on Thursday against No. 3 seed Tampa at 2:30 p.m. on the campus of host Mississippi College.
 
This will be the 21st consecutive NCAA tournament appearance for the UAH softball program and the 26th overall in the team's 29-year history.
 
UAH holds a 68-52 all-time record in the NCAA tournament, as the Chargers have won the regional tournament four times most recently in 2011.
 
The Chargers enter the NCAA South 2 Regional with an overall record of 39-16 that includes a 22-8 mark in Gulf South Conference play this season, as UAH most recently fell to No. 16 AUM in the GSC tournament semifinals last Friday.
 
UAH has scored the fourth-most runs in the GSC this season at 372 to go along with ranking in the top five in the league in batting average (.331), triples (14), RBI (337), total bases (788), slugging percentage (.551), walks (187) and on-base percentage (.421).
 
GSC Co-Player of the Year Alexa Douthitt has been the Chargers overall offensive leader in her sophomore campaign with a .451 batting average to go along with 12 doubles, 14 home runs and 59 RBI. Her 132 total bases rate fifth in the GSC.
 
The Chargers lineup additionally features five more players batting .325 or higher, including Jada Henderson (.451), Lawren Hayes (.406), Kaylee Vaught (.340), Sadie Thompson (.331) and Maddie Cartron (.326).
 
UAH's pitching staff owns the third-best ERA in the GSC this season at 3.47 for the squad, as Josie Thompson (2.80 ERA) and Katie Bracken (3.21 ERA) both rate in the top eight of the conference.
 
Sunshine State Conference Regular Season Champion Tampa opens the NCAA South 2 Regional with a 41-9 overall record that includes a 23-7 mark in SSC play, following a series win over Saint Leo to end the regular season last weekend.
 
The Spartans offense averages 4.58 runs per game, led by Camryn Wineinger with a .333 batting average, six doubles, five homers and 38 RBI. Tampa's pitching staff owns a 0.97 team ERA, guided by Mariah Gallhouse with a 0.82 ERA over 111.1 innings.
 
The Chargers have played the Spartans four times in NCAA tournament history, as UAH is 1-3 in those contests. The two teams matched up twice in the 2023 South 1 Regional at Tampa, with UT winning both one-run games.
 
The winner of Thursday's matchup moves on to play the winner of No. 2 seed Mississippi College and No. 7 seed West Alabama on Friday at 12 p.m., while the loser plays an elimination game Friday at 2:30 p.m. against the loser of MC/UWA.