COLUMBIA, Mo. – Despite a last-place finish in the Southeastern Conference during the regular season, the Missouri softball team squeaked into the NCAA tournament field and will make its 16th consecutive NCAA regional appearance.

The Tigers (34-24) were chosen as the No. 3 seed in the Norman, Oklahoma, Regional, where they’ll play No. 2 seed California (33-19-1) on Friday. Oklahoma (51-1), the overall No. 1 seed in the 64-team field and reigning national champion, will be the heavy favorite to win the regional at its home facility, Marita Hynes Field. The Sooners play No. 4 seed Hofstra (29-25) in the other first-round matchup in the double-elimination regional.

“The biggest thing is we’re in,” Tigers coach Larissa Anderson said Sunday night. “That’s what you’re playing for is to go to the show, and we’re obviously excited. I felt like we were on the bubble. Our RPI was at 40 but the push that we made at the end of the season gave us an opportunity to be considered. And I’m just unbelievably excited that we’re in it, (16) years in a row that this program has gone to the NCAA tournament. That speaks volumes for the rich tradition and history of this program. And I’m excited that we can continue it.”

Mizzou has played in an NCAA regional every year there’s been a tournament since the 2007 season. The NCAA didn’t hold a tournament in 2020 during the first months of the pandemic.

The Tigers are accustomed to hosting a regional this time of year — they hosted regionals in 2021 and 2022 — but after going just 7-17 in SEC play, they had to sweat through Sunday’s selection show unsure if they’d make the field. The Tigers’ 3-1 victory over Mississippi State in last week’s SEC tournament might have been the team’s saving grace. Why’s that? MSU was the only SEC team that didn’t make a regional. At the end of an unusually sluggish regular season, the Tigers won nine of their final 13 games, including two of three against Arkansas.

“I know that the (NCAA) selection committee looks at how you do towards the end of the year and we had a lot of quality wins,” Anderson said. “I think what really helped us is that we didn’t have any really hurtful losses. Our losses have been against really competitive nationally ranked teams that made a big run and big push. But yeah, I think taking two out of three of Arkansas and definitely beating Mississippi State gave us an opportunity.”

“It’s tough because you don’t know (if you’ll make it) when it’s out of your hands,” she added. “And I think that’s the biggest struggle is you do everything you possibly can and it’s over the entire body of work. You don’t want a loss in February or March to hurt you. You just want to put together a good enough resume that you are considered. … It’s the SEC and it’s so tough. You’re always going to have a bunch of losses because of how competitive the conference is. But it’s not something that I’ve enjoyed, this day today. It’s been really tough with practice. Are we preparing for going anywhere or are we preparing for the end of the season?”

Friday’s game against Cal will begin at 6:30 p.m. CT and air on ESPN-Plus. Before taking over the Tigers’ program in 2019, Anderson spent 17 years at Hofstra as an assistant and head coach. Hofstra coach Adrienne Clark played for and coached under Anderson at the Colonial Athletic Association school.

“It’s surreal. It’s exciting,” Anderson said, “because they have so much pride in that program and what they’ve done. They’re they won a (conference) championship for the first time since 2018, which was the last year I was at Hofstra. So obviously, it pulls on your heartstrings a little bit and I’m excited for them.”

Of course, the Tigers, Hofstra and Cal will have to pull off a couple major upsets to knock off the home Sooners, the two-time defending national champions who have bring a 43-game winning streak into the regional.

Mizzou will stick with a team motto that worked for the Tigers down the stretch, Anderson said.

“Let’s crash their party,” she said. “They’re the No. 1 seed. They’re the defending national champions. No better party to crash than theirs. So we’re gonna have that same momentum. We know it’s a tough place to play. Their fans are really, really tough and it’s loud. We just have to match their energy and excitement and enthusiasm. But really, we just have to focus on Cal first. That’s the big step, is get as much information as we can about Cal and do everything we possibly can to beat Cal and continue our way through that regional.

“But, again, at the same time, beat the 1 seed. Why not? The game doesn’t care.”

The winners of Friday’s games will meet at 2 p.m. Saturday while Friday’s losers will play an elimination game Saturday at 4:30 p.m., followed by a second elimination game Saturday night, set for 7:30 p.m. Sunday’s championship game will start at 1 p.m., followed by a rematch if necessary.