Alex Byington

Special to the Advertiser

TUSCALOOSA — Alabama’s softball team earned the No. 6 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

The No. 4 Crimson Tide found out its playoff fate during a live broadcast on ESPNU later Sunday evening inside its team field house at Rhoads Stadium.

The Tuscaloosa Regional will also include California, Texas State and Samford, with the Crimson Tide (46-12) playing in-state Samford at 4 p.m. Friday, with California taking on Texas State earlier that day.

This is Alabama’s 18th straight NCAA playoff appearance and 12th straight in the regional. The Tide has won every regional its hosted since 2005, the longest active streak in the country.

Back-to-back reigning national champion Florida received the No. 1 national seed its held all season, with Michigan at No. 2, Oklahoma at No. 3 and newly-crowned back-to-back SEC champion Auburn as the No. 4 seed.

As a top 8 seed, Alabama would host the Super Regional should it advance once again, with a likely matchup with the winner of the Seattle Regional, of which No. 11-seeded Washington is the host. The Tide eliminated the Huskies in the 2014 Super Regional when it was the No. 11 seed then as well.

Last season, Alabama edged out Oklahoma in the Tuscaloosa Super Regional, which it also hosted, to make its second-straight appearance in the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.