Tusculum College has earned the No. 4 seed for the 2011 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Softball Tournament, which is hosted Wednesday through Saturday by Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City.

The Pioneers, who are 30-15 overall and 11-7 in SAC play, will face No. 5 Wingate (30-13, 11-7 SAC) in the tournament opener Wednesday at 9 a.m. The Pioneers earned the fourth seed ahead of the Bulldogs by way of their doubleheader sweep on March 19. It will be the first meeting between the schools in the SAC Tournament since 2007.

Lenoir-Rhyne University (37-8, 16-2 SAC), the defending tournament champion, earned the top seed after winning the seventh conference championship in school history and fifth in the last six years. The Bears will face eighth-seed Lincoln Memorial (25-22, 6-12 SAC) at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Carson-Newman College (36-13-1, 14-4 SAC) is the tournament host and second seed and will face seventh-seed Brevard (28-19, 6-12 SAC) at 2 p.m. on Wednesday. Brevard and LMU tied for seventh place in the league standings, and Brevard earned the seventh seed by virtue of sweeping LMU in their meeting on April 6.

Catawba College (29-17, 12-6 SAC) is the third seed and will face sixth-seed Mars Hill College (29-18, 7-11 SAC) at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

The top eight teams in the SAC regular-season standings qualified for the tournament, whose champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Softball Championship.

The tournament continues on Thursday with two games at Walters State Community College in Morristown, Tenn., and four games at Carson-Newman. Three games are scheduled on Friday. The championship game is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday, with a second game to follow, if necessary.

All-Tournament tickets will be available at the gate for $15 for adults and $7 for children and students. Fans showing their Food Lion MVP card can save $2 on the price of an adult All-Tournament ticket. Daily ticket prices are $7 for adults and $3 for children and students. Fans showing their Food Lion MVP card can save $1 off the price of an adult ticket.

Game 1: No. 4 Tusculum vs. No. 5 Wingate, 9 a.m.
Game 2: No. 3 Catawba vs. No. 6 Mars Hill, 11:30 a.m.
Game 3: No. 2 Carson-Newman vs. No. 7 Brevard, 2 p.m.
Game 4: No. 1 Lenoir-Rhyne vs. No. 8 Lincoln Memorial, 4:30 p.m.

Thursday, April 21
At Walters State Community College, Morristown, Tenn.
Game 5: Game 2 loser vs. Game 3 loser, 9 a.m.
Game 6: Game 1 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 11:30 a.m.
At Carson-Newman College, Jefferson City, Tenn.
Game 7: Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 9 a.m.
Game 8: Game 1 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 11:30 a.m.
Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 8 loser, 2 p.m.
Game 10: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 loser, 4:30 p.m.

Friday, April 22
At Carson-Newman College, Jefferson City, Tenn.
Game 11: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 11 a.m.
Game 12: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 1:30 p.m.
Game 13: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 loser, 4 p.m.

Saturday, April 23
At Carson-Newman College, Jefferson City, Tenn.
Championship Game 14: Game 12 winner vs. Game 13 winner, 1 p.m.
Game 15 (if necessary): Game 14 winner vs. Game 14 loser, 3:30 p.m.