Western Michigan baseball has its assignment and will be hitting the road to begin its run in the NCAA tournament.

The pairings for the 64-team tournament were announced Monday and the Broncos, who won the Mid-American Conference tournament over the weekend in Avon, Ohio, were an automatic qualifier. Their reward: A trip to Lexington, Kentucky, to take on the regional host and No. 2 overall seed Kentucky. The other two teams in the regional are Illinois and Indiana State.

The Broncos and Wildcats will open regional play at Kentucky’s home field at noon Friday on the SEC Network. The Sycamores and Fighting Illini will play at 7 p.m. Friday.

WMU was the No. 2 seed in the MAC tournament and took down No. 3-seeded Ball State, 10-3, on Saturday night for the Broncos’ second conference tournament crown. The 32nd win of the season is the most for WMU since winning 35 in 1993. The MAC tournament MVP was outfielder Dylan Nevar, who went 6-for-13 with five RBIs and four runs scored.

The Broncos were the best hitting (.316 batting average) and pitching (5.50 ERA) team in the MAC this season. Cade Sullivan (.397) and C.J. Richmond (.384) finished 1-2 in hitting in the MAC and Nevar was tops in RBIs (68).

Each of the 16 regionals will be four-team, double-elimination tournaments to advance to the Super Regionals, for which the pairings will be announced on June 4.

This year marks the first time the Broncos have made the NCAA tournament since 2016, when they also won the MAC tournament title. That year, they were in the Louisville, Kentucky, regional, and went 0-2.

Significant damage has been reported in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, after a tornado wreaked havoc in the area. Homes have been damaged, and trees are down near Princeton and Charleston.

Several residents and storm chasers took to social media to share details of the tornado sighting and the resulting damage in the area.

“Incredible tornado, horrific destruction that will become more clear with time. Droned the tornado and tracked it from touch fown to the other side of Dawson Springs Kentucky,” one person wrote.

Another wrote, “Huge damage in charleston near dawson springs. homes have been destored off there foundation.”

A third person wrote, “For those who pray, extend positive thoughts, light & love, whatever your preferred spiritual practice…please lift up my husband & our family in Dawson Springs, KY. They are still rebuilding from the devastating tornadoes in Dec 2021! Today they’ve been hit with even more!”

Another person wrote, “Not really words to describe the tornado that’s ongoing northeast of Dawson Springs Kentucky. There is a tremendous amount of debris in the air and massive debris fallout, likely from the community along Charleston Road that got hit moments ago.”

Meanwhile, at least one person is dead in Louisville after thunderstorms hit Kentucky early Sunday afternoon. Louisville Metro Police (LMPD) said the individual died after being struck by a fallen tree on Hobbs Station Road.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg announced the person’s death in a social media post.

“I’m sad to report we’ve had one fatality following the severe weather that just moved through the area and some structural damage reported,” he wrote. “Please join me in holding this family in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.”