INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Winona State University remained the No. 1-ranked team in the NCAA Division II Central Region Softball Rankings, announced on Wednesday. The Warriors, ranked No. 5 in the NFCA Coaches' Poll, have been the top-ranked central region team in each of the three releases to date.

Winona state is one of six Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) teams ranked in the Central Region Top 10, joined by No. 3 Augustana, No. 4 Minnesota Duluth, No. 6 Minnesota State Mankato, No. 9 St. Cloud State and No. 10 Concordia-St. Paul.

The 42-team NCAA Central Region is made up of teams from the NSIC, the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) and the Great American Conference (GAC). Automatic bids are awarded to the tournament champions from each conference with the final five spots awarded on an at-large basis. In all, eight teams will advance to the NCAA Regional Tournament on May 10-12, with the top two seeds in the region hosting. 

The NCAA softball selections will be announced on www.NCAA.com on Monday, May 7 at 9 a.m. (CT).  The NCAA Championships are set for May 24-28 at Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, Virginia hosted by the City of Salem and the Mountain East Conference.

Winona State (41-5, 20-2 NSIC) won the 2018 NSIC regular season championship on Sunday and will begin play as the top seed in the postseason conference tournament on Thursday in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Warriors NSIC Championship is their fourth overall and first since 2007. WSU has won six NSIC postseason titles with the most recent coming in 2015.