DAHLONEGA - For the sixth straight year, the University of North Georgia will play host to a softball regional as the No. 5 Nighthawks earned the top seed in the Southeast Region as announced Monday morning by the national office.

The Nighthawks will play Lees-McRae in the opening round as the Bobcats earned the No. 8 seed by winning the Conference Carolinas tournament, securing the automatic bid. No. 4 Coker and No. 5 Young Harris will also make their way to Dahlonega for the opening round.

On the other side of the Southeast Region, No. 2 Carson-Newman will host No. 3 Lincoln Memorial, No. 6 Wingate and No. 7 Anderson in an All-SAC regional in Tennessee.

Action begins Thursday with the opening games of the tournament with play continuing through Saturday at Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium. Tickets are $10 daily for adults and $5 for students ages 8-17. Tournament passes are available for purchase as well for $25 (adults) and $10 (students). All tickets can be pre-purchased through UNGTickets.com.

The winners of the two regionals will travel to the highest remaining seed for Super Regional action next weekend to compete for a spot in Denver at the NCAA Division II Softball Championship.