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BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Virginia Tech baseball team will make its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2000 when it opens play on Friday in the Columbia, S.C., regional.

The 64-team field was announced on Monday afternoon, and the Hokies (38-20) were selected as an at-large bid and will be the No. 2 seed in the bracket that also includes No. 1 seed and host South Carolina (43-15), No. 3 seed and first-round opponent The Citadel (42-20), and No. 4 seed Bucknell (25-33).

The Hokies will face off at 2 p.m., with the Bulldogs, who won the Southern Conference tournament on Sunday. Tech and the Citadel last met in 2007, when head coach Pete Hughes and the Hokies visited the Bulldogs in February for a four-team tournament. Tech came away with a 5-4 win in 11 innings, with then-sophomore and current redshirt-senior Sean Ryan going 2-for-4.

The Gamecocks were selected as an at-large bid out of the Southeastern Conference, while Bucknell got an automatic invite by virtue of winning the Patriot League tournament on Saturday. The Hokies played host to Bucknell for a three-game series last year in Blacksburg, winning all three contests. Tech and South Carolina last met in 1993.

This will be the Hokies’ ninth appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and their first as an at-large bid since 1977. Interestingly, the Hokies have matched up with both The Citadel and South Carolina in previous NCAA Tournaments. Tech was eliminated by the Bulldogs in 1994 in the Clemson, S.C., regional. The Hokies lost to the Gamecocks in the first game of the 1976 regional that took place in Columbia. Tech is 5-16 all-time in NCAA Tournament games.

The complete 2010 NCAA Tournament bracket and information on the regional including tickets and parking can be viewed here.

Virginia Tech’s NCAA Baseball Tournament appearances

2000 at Fullerton, Calif.
nL, 3-8, Southern California
aL, 6-8, Cal State Fullerton

1999 at Winston-Salem, N.C.
nL, 3-5, Richmond
nW, 11-5, Siena
nL, 8-11, Richmond

1997 at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
nW, 3-2, Southern California
nL, 6-12, N.C. State
nL, 2-6, Southern California

1994 at Clemson, S.C.
nL, 0-7, Auburn
nL, 3-4, The Citadel

1977 at Minneapolis, Minn.
nL, 1-2, Central Michigan
nL, 4-9, Florida

1976 at Columbia, S.C.
aL, 6-7, South Carolina (10 inn.)
nL, 4-5, Furman

1969 at Gastonia, N.C.
nL, 6-7, Mississippi (10 inn.)
nW, 6-3, Furman
nL, 1-5, North Carolina

1954
aW, 11-10, Clemson (at Clemson, S.C)
hW, 7-1, Clemson (at Blacksburg, Va.)
aL, 0-3, Rollins (at Winter Park, Fla.)
aL, 3-9, Rollins (at Winter Park, Fla.)

For updates on Virginia Tech baseball, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Baseball).