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BLACKSBURG – The Virginia Tech softball team heads to Knoxville, Tennessee, Thursday for its fourth straight, and eighth overall NCAA Tournament, this one hosted by the University of Tennessee. The third-seeded Hokies will take the diamond at 3:30 p.m. Friday afternoon and will face second-seeded Utah.

The double-elimination regional, which features four teams in eighth-seeded Tennessee, Utah, Virginia Tech and Longwood, will run Friday through Sunday at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium on UT’s campus. After the Hokies and the Utes face off at 3:30 p.m., the Lady Vols will host Longwood at 6 p.m. on Friday. All games of the Knoxville Regional will be available on Hokies Xtra for free both on the app and on a computer. The complete tournament schedule is listed below. The games will also be available on ESPN3.

Quickly …
First Opponent: #23 Utah (34-17, 12-11 Pac-12)
Time: Friday, May 15; 3:30 PM
Location: Sherri Parker Lee Stadium; Knoxville, Tenn.
Broadcast: ESPN3
Announcers: Sam Gore & Amanda Freed
Hokies XTra: Bailey Angle (audio only; free)
Live Stats: Available on hokiesports.com/softball/live
In-Game Updates: @VT_Softball on Twitter

The Headlines
• Tech enters the NCAA Softball Championship at 34-21 overall and finished seventh in the ACC after going 9-14, with an RPI of 43rd.

• This will be Tech’s eighth appearance in the NCAA Tournament and fourth in a row. Five of the previous seven appearances were in Knoxville, Tennessee, while the others were in Columbus, Ohio (2007) and Lexington, Kentucky (2013). The Hokies also made the NCAA Tournament from 2005-2008.

• This will be the Hokies’ fourth Regional appearance at Lee Stadium, where they have a 6-5 record. Two of their Knoxville Regional appearances were at Tyson Park. Tech’s lone Regional win came in 2008 when it beat Tennessee in Lee Stadium in Knoxville behind the strong arm of National Player of the Year Angela Tincher, who is now an assistant coach for the Hokies.

• The Hokies dip at the end of the season has coincided with the loss of freshman Breanna Davenport, the leadoff batter who leads the team with a .345 batting average and starts in center field. Davenport suffered a high ankle sprain at Pitt on Sunday, April 20 and will be looking to return to the lineup this weekend in the field after starting as the designated player in the ACC Tournament. Tech also lost senior Lauren Gaskill for a doubleheader at No. 19 James Madison due to an illness, snapping her 230-game start streak. Now back, Gaskill - Tech’s shortstop - has been forced to move to center field in Davenport’s absence, moving Kylie McGoldrick over to shortstop from second base for the first time in her career and freshman Jessie Mehr from first base to second base for the first time in her young career. Tech also lost starting catcher Katey Smith for the ACC Tournament with a sprained ankle, forcing Kelsey Mericka from third base to catcher and Michelle Prong from right field to third base while Carolina Schoenewald took over in right field.

• Kelsey Mericka has 16 home runs on the season after hitting her latest on May 3 at Boston College, tied for the school record of 16 set by Megan Evans in 2005.

• Senior Lauren Gaskill already holds the school record for career runs scored with 180.

• Seniors Kylie McGoldrick (marketing management), Bailey Liddle (communications), Lauren Gaskill (communications), Michelle Prong (master’s in public health) and redshirt junior Katey Smith (mechanical engineering) will all miss graduation this weekend to play in the NCAA Tournament.

About Longwood
Record: 33-23, 20-4 Big South (Tournament Champions)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 2nd (0-2)
NCAA Adjusted RPI: 80th
Strength of Schedule: 96th
Non-Conference Strength of Schedule: 45th
Top-50 RPI Wins: NC State, Fordham

• Longwood is the region’s No. 4 seed and will take on Tennessee in the first round. The Lancers come in at 33-23 after winning the Big South title for the second time in three seasons.

• Senior Megan Baltzell is one of the country’s top players and will enter this weekend hitting .422 with 27 home runs and 72 RBIs with 65 walks. The Lancers hit .285 as a team and have 83 stolen bases. In the circle, Elizabeth McCarthy is the ace with a 22-12 record and a 3.40 ERA and 196 strikeouts in 206.0 innings.

• Tech and Longwood are no strangers to each other, facing off 18 previous times with the Hokies winning 10 of those games. Tech swept Longwood earlier this season in Blacksburg, winning 1-0 and 11-0 in five innings.

About Tennessee
Record: 42-14, 15-9 SEC (at-large)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 13th (59-27)
NCAA Adjusted RPI: 9th
Strength of Schedule: 5th
Non-Conference Strength of Schedule: 52nd
Top-50 RPI Wins: Florida, LSU (2), Auburn, Alabama, Florida State, Missouri (2), Georgia (3), Notre Dame, Kentucky (4), South Carolina, Mississippi State (3), North Dakota State, Virginia Tech, Fordham

• Tennessee is the No. 8 national seed and is coming off of an impressive run in the 2015 SEC Tournament. UT defeated Kentucky in the first round, 5-4, with a walk-off. The Lady Vols rallied late to upset No. 4 seed and host LSU, 7-5, in the quarterfinals and Erin Gabriel shut down top-seeded Florida, 2-1, in the semifinals. In the conference tournament title game, Auburn mounted a late rally to defeat the Lady Vols, 6-5, in nine frames.

• UT’s 97 home runs smashed the previous program record of 81 set in 2014. For the first time in team history, Tennessee has five players with double-digit home runs in Taylor Koenig (17), Annie Aldrete (15), Megan Geer (13), Meghan Gregg (12) and Scarlet McSwain (10). Aldrete is the first Tennessee player to have two 15-home run seasons in a career and her 34 career blasts ranks fifth in team history.

• Tennessee is currently ranked No. 11 in both the USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll and No. 9 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.

• Tech and Tennessee have met 18 times with UT leading 11-7. Seven of those games have come in the NCAA Tournament (UT leads 6-2; all in Knoxville), while 10 came at the State Line Classic in Bristol. The two met earlier this season in Blacksburg with Tennessee take a 13-4 win in six innings.

About Utah
Record: 34-17, 12-11 Pac-12 (at-large)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 13th (16-27)
NCAA Adjusted RPI: 27th
Strength of Schedule: 25th
Non-Conference Strength of Schedule: 72nd
Top-50 RPI Wins: Tennessee, Arizona (2), Cal (2), Arizona State (2), Washington, Cal-State Northridge

• Utah is the region’s No. 2 seed and will face the Hokies in the first round at 3:30 p.m. on Friday.

• The Utes’ offense is led by Kate Dickman, who is hitting .448 with 20 doubles and nine home runs with 12 stolen bases. Hannah Flippen is hitting .273 with seven home runs while the Utes as a team hit .292 with 78 doubles, 40 home runs and 37 stolen bases.

• Katie Donovan has seen the most action in the circle, posting a 16-8 record with a 2.58 ERA and 141 strikeouts in 176.2 innings. Miranda Viramontes has also seen extensive action, tossing 114.1 innings with an 11-6 record and 3.06 ERA with 77 strikeouts.

• Utah is currently ranked No. 23 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.

• Tech and Utah have never met in softball.

Knoxville Regional – May 15-17 – Lee Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.
Tennessee (42-14)
Utah (34-17)
Virginia Tech (34-21)
Longwood (33-23)

NCAA Knoxville Regional Schedule
Friday, May 15
3:30 p.m. - Game 1 Virginia Tech vs. Utah (H)
6:00 p.m. - Game 2 Longwood vs #8 Tennessee (H)
Saturday, May 17
1:00 p.m. - Game 3 (winner game 1 vs winner game 2)
3:30 p.m. - Game 4 (loser game 1 vs loser game 2)
6:00 p.m. - Game 5 (loser game 3 vs winner game 4)
Sunday, May 18
3:30 p.m. - Game 6 (winner game 3 vs winner game 5)
6:00 p.m. - Game 7 (if necessary)

Ticket Information
Available all-session bleacher-back ticket packages are on sale to the public online at UTTIX.com, over the phone at 865-656-1200 or in-person at the Tennessee ticket office. There is a limit of six tickets per customer/account. The bleacher-back all-session package is $25 and includes tickets for all three days of the Knoxville Regional.

NCAA Tournament Year-By-Year Results
2005
Knoxville (Tenn.) Regional; 1-2 overall
vs. College of Charleston; L, 2-10 (6 Inn.)
vs. Miami University; W, 4-1
vs. College of Charleston; L, 3-6

2006
Knoxville (Tenn.) Regional; 1-2 overall
vs. #19 Louisville; W, 1-0 (12 Inn.)
at #6 Tennessee; L, 1-9 (5 Inn.)
vs. #19 Louisville; L, 1-10 (5 Inn.)

2007; #16 Overall National Seed
Columbus (Ohio) Regional; 1-2 overall
vs. Canisius; W, 5-0
vs. #21 Ohio State; L, 1-2
vs. Cal State Fullerton; L, 0-1

2008
Knoxville (Tenn.) Regional; 3-1 overall
vs. Louisville; W, 1-0 (10 Inn.)
at #14 Tennessee; W, 4-0
at #14 Tennessee; L, 1-7; W, 4-2
Ann Arbor (Mich.) Super Regional; 2-1 overall
at #6 Michigan; L, 0-1
at #6 Michigan (DH); W, 1-0; W, 6-1
Women’s College World Series; 0-2 overall
vs. #4 Texas A&M; L, 0-1
vs. #1 Florida; L, 0-2 (9 Inn.)

2012
Knoxville (Tenn.) Regional; 2-2 overall
vs. UAB; W, 4-1
vs. Miami University; W, 6-0
at #5 Tennessee; L, 1-2; L, 2-10

2013; 3-2 overall
Lexington (Ky.) Regional
vs. Notre Dame; W, 4-3
at #17 Kentucky; L, 2-6
vs. Marshall; W, 4-3 (13)
at #17 Kentucky; W, 2-0; L, 0-1

2014
Knoxville (Tenn.) Regional; 1-2 overall
vs. Lipscomb; W, 4-3
at #8 Tennessee; L, 0-12 (5)
vs. Lipscomb; L, 3-12

For updates on Virginia Tech softball, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_Softball