ROLLA, Mo. -- For the third time in school history and first time in five years, Missouri S&T's baseball team is headed to the NCAA Division II Tournament as it was selected as part of the eight-team field for the Midwest Regional that will get underway Thursday in Quincy, Ill.

The Miners made their last appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2011 and their first opponent in that trip to the regional -- Southern Indiana -- will be its first opponent this time around as well. S&T will take on the Eagles Thursday in the opening round game at 10 a.m. at the QU Baseball Field.

Thursday's matchup between the fifth-seeded Miners (35-17) and fourth-seeded Screaming Eagles (33-19) will pit the two teams that won their respective divisions in the Great Lakes Valley Conference in 2016, as S&T captured the West title with a 19-9 mark and USI won the East championship at 20-8.  The teams did not play one another this season and last met in last year's GLVC Tournament, where the Screaming Eagles came away with an 8-5 victory.  S&T won the 2011 NCAA matchup between the squads by a score of 2-0.

Regional host Quincy (35-16) got the top seed in the regional and will face Great Midwest Athletic Conference champion Alderson-Broaddus (30-19) in the opening round; one of those teams will be the Miners' opponent on Friday.

The other two first round matchups will pit No. 2 seed Grand Valley State (35-16-1) and No. 7 seed Hillsdale (32-22) in one game and GLVC Tournament champion Indianapolis (37-19), the third seed, against sixth-seeded Ashland (31-20).

The regional is an eight-team, double elimination event that will conclude with the championship game on Monday, May 23.  The winner of the regional will advance to the NCAA Division II Championships that will take place in Cary, N.C., from May 28-June 4.