Winthrop's first opponent in the NCAA tournament will be No. 14 Tennessee, the same team that eliminated the Eagles in last year's inaugural postseason berth. The Eagles (36-17) will play the Volunteers (47-14) in Knoxville, Tenn., on Friday.

"I kind of thought it would be Tennessee," coach Mark Cooke said as the applause died on Sunday, the team and a small contingent of fans viewing the selection show at the Winthrop Coliseum. "I wasn't expecting a four-seed. But we'll go up there and see if we can give them a surprise."

The Vols have been to three straight Women's College World Series and had three straight 60-win seasons before this year, riding the strong pitching of 2007 National Player of the Year Monica Abbott to rampant success. Abbott's gone now, a welcome relief to the Eagles, who were forced to watch her twirl a shutout and end Winthrop's season 7-0 last year.

"Now that Abbott's gone, we can show them who we really are," sophomore Lenny Stoddart said.

Louisville (30-21) and No. 18 Virginia Tech (44-15) are also in the four-team regional. The Eagles lost 3-0 to the Hokies on Feb. 24 at a tournament in Salem, Va.

"I'm a bit surprised to see Virginia Tech there," Cooke said. "We've seen their pitcher once."

The first matchup should be intriguing. Two of the country's top hitters -- Tennessee's Tonya Callahan (.473) and Winthrop's Lisa Kingsmore (.448) -- will be there as well as two stellar pitching staffs. The Vols' Ashton Ward and Megan Rhodes lead a staff with a 2.12 ERA and have combined for 382 strikeouts.

The Eagles' Megan Evans, Cari Wooldridge and Izzy Trottier have posted a collective 1.47 ERA with 292 strikeouts.

Times for the games will be announced this afternoon.