The ACC-champion NC State softball team will travel to Knoxville, Tenn., to play James Madison on Friday at 3:30 p.m. in the third NCAA Regional in school history.

Four ACC squads will advance to the NCAA tournament: Florida State, NC State, Virginia Tech and North Carolina.

North Carolina will face Wisconsin in Eugene, Ore., this Thursday in the first round of regional play as the Tar Heels enter NCAA Tournament play for the 11th time in 13 years.

The second-seeded Pack (33-18-1 overall) is familiar with two of the other three teams in the NCAA Knoxville Regional, having played top-seeded and host Tennessee twice in Tampa in February and having hosted fourth-seeded Longwood in an exhibition doubleheader last fall.

“We are excited to be going into the tournament,” said first-year Wolfpack head coach Shawn Rychcik. “We really didn’t have any preferences going into the selection process, because you know where ever you’re going in the NCAAs, it’s going to be a tough battle.

“We do have some familiarity with a couple of the teams in our regional. Hopefully, that will play in our favor.”

The Pack lost to then No. 4-ranked Tennessee in its first game at the South Florida 4-Team Tournament in its second week of the season. The Volunteers then topped the Pack in the title game of the event hosted by South Florida.

UNC faced Wisconsin earlier in the season in a 4-2 loss at the Lousiville Classic. The No. 3 seed Ducks will also play BYU on Thursday.

“We are very excited about making to the NCAAs in Oregon,” head coach Donna J. Papa said. “The coaching staff and players are looking forward to competing. This was one of our season goals giving us the opportunity to make it to the next level. It is great for our program and our conference as well to have four teams in.”