ATHENS, Ga. – The Georgia Bulldogs were selected as a No. 1 seed for the Chapel Hill Regional and the sixth overall national seed in the 28th annual NCAA Division I Softball Championships, the NCAA announced Sunday. Hosted by the North Carolina Tar Heels, the Chapel Hill Regional will take place May 14-16.

The 2009 NCAA Chapel Hill Regional will feature Georgia (39-10), who finished third in the Southeastern Conference, host UNC (45-11) from the Atlantic Coast Conference, Atlantic Sun Championship winner Campbell (38-14) and Big South Champion Radford (40-13).

Georgia is making its eighth-consecutive and eighth overall NCAA postseason appearance in school history, all under head coach Lu Harris-Champer. It marks the second-straight season in which the Bulldogs were selected as the top seed for the Chapel Hill Regional after going 3-0 there last year to advance to Super Regionals.

The Bulldogs are 21-14 overall in NCAA postseason play and will open Regional play against fourth-seeded Radford. Regional host North Carolina, the second seed, will open the Chapel Hill Regional against third-seeded Campbell.

Georgia did not play any of the other Chapel Hill Regional teams during the regular season in 2009. All-time, Georgia is 4-2 against North Carolina, 5-1 against Campbell and 2-0 against Radford. Last year, Georgia opened the Chapel Hill regional with a 9-0 victory over Campbell. 

A total of 64 teams were selected to the NCAA Tournament with 30 conferences being awarded automatic qualification, while the remaining 34 slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket. The top 16 teams were seeded nationally with Georgia earning the sixth national seed. The SEC had a total of nine teams selected for the tournament, with four of those teams earning one of the 16 national seeds. All 64 teams will be playing for the right to advance to the 26th NCAA Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City May 28-June 3.