ATHENS — Georgia softball will open the NCAA Softball Tournament in the Minneapolis Regional at 7 p.m. on Friday against Missouri Valley Conference champ Drake.

The Bulldogs (40-17) are making their 18th straight NCAA tourney appearance and also have host Minnesota (41-13) and Summit Conference champ North Dakota State to contend with in the regional.

Georgia all-time home runs and RBI leader Alyssa DiCarlo enters the tourney seventh in the nation with 21 home runs and seventh in walks with 50 in 57 games.

The Golden Gophers (41-12) are making their seventh straight appearance in the tournament, and their No. 7 overall seed is the highest in school history.

The winner of the Minneapolis Regional is matched with the winner of the Baton Rouge Regional being hosted by the tourney’s No. 10 overall seed, LSU.

Georgia is 7-7 on the road this season, while the Golden Gophers are 10-1 in home games this season.

Minnesota opens tournament play at 9:30 p.m. on Friday against North Dakota State.

There are 64 teams in the tournament playing at 16 different regional sites.

The 16 winners of the four-team regionals meet in Super Regional action with the winners of those best-of-three series advancing to the Women’s College World Series.

NCAA SOFTBALL REGIONALS

Norman Regional – May 17-19 at Norman, Oklahoma No. 1 seed Oklahoma* (49-2) vs. UMBC (30-22) Notre Dame (36-16) vs. Wisconsin (40-12)

Evanston Regional – May 17-19 at Evanston, Illinois Southern Ill. (33-13) vs. Louisville (33-21) Detroit Mercy (31-26) vs. No. 16 seed Northwestern* (43-10)

Austin Regional – May 17-19 at Austin, Texas No. 9 seed Texas* (41-14) vs. Sam Houston St. (34-21) Texas A&M (28-25) vs. Houston (37-17)

Tuscaloosa Regional – May 17-19 at Tuscaloosa, Alabama  Arizona St. (33-18) vs. Lipscomb (41-13-1) Alabama St. (24-23) vs. No. 8 seed Alabama* (52-7)

Gainesville Regional – May 17-19 at Gainesville, Florida  No. 5 seed Florida* (44-15) vs. Boston U. (37-18) Stanford (32-18) vs. Boise St. (34-14)

Knoxville Regional – May 17-19 at Knoxville, Tennessee  North Carolina (35-18) vs. Ohio St. (34-16) Longwood (37-20) vs. No. 12 seed Tennessee* (39-14)

Stillwater Regional – May 16-18 at Stillwater, Oklahoma No. 13 seed Oklahoma St.* (39-14) vs. BYU (29-24) Arkansas (38-18) vs. Tulsa (35-18)

Tallahassee Regional – May 17-19 at Tallahassee, Florida South Carolina (36-17) vs. South Fla. (40-17) Bethune-Cookman (26-29) vs. No. 4 seed Florida St.* (51-8)

Seattle Regional – May 17-19 at Seattle, Washington No. 3 seed Washington* (45-7) vs. Fordham (29-24) Mississippi State (33-21) vs. Seattle U. (39-15)

Lexington Regional – May 17-19 at Lexington, Kentucky Virginia Tech (45-9) vs. Illinois (32-23) Toledo (29-26) vs. No. 14 seed Kentucky* (33-22)

Oxford Regional – May 17-19 at Oxford, Mississippi No. 11 seed Ole Miss* (37-17) vs. Chattanooga (37-15) Louisiana (50-4) vs. Southeast Mo. St. (45-16)

Tucson Regional – May 17-19 at Tucson, Arizona  Auburn (37-19) vs. Colorado St. (38-10) Harvard (25-17) vs. No. 6 seed Arizona* (42-12)

Minneapolis Regional – May 17-19 at Minneapolis, Minnesota No. 7 seed Minnesota* (41-12) vs. North Dakota St. (42-14) Georgia (40-17) vs. Drake (42-14)