The Maryland softball team will be going to the NCAA tournament for the first time in the program's five-year history, facing fourth-ranked Southwest Texas State in the first round at 4: 30 p.m. (EDT) Thursday in Tucson, Ariz.

The Terps, ranked No. 21 with a 48-21 record, earned an automatic bid into the field of 48 as champion of the South Atlantic Softball Alliance/Atlantic Coast Conference. Maryland is seeded third in the regional.

Other teams competing are top-seeded Arizona, No. 2-seeded Kansas, No. 5 Southeast Missouri State and No. 6 East Carolina.

Maryland is led by senior pitcher Kelly Shipman, who has won a school-record 29 games, with an earned run average of 0.98. She has 1,013 career strikeouts.