KNOXVILLE — The University of Tennessee softball team couldn’t get score one run on Virginia Tech’s Angela Tincher on Saturday.

Now the Lady Volunteers have to beat one of the NCAA’s best pitchers historically twice today, or their season will end shy of the Women’s College World Series for the first time in four years.

Top-seeded UT fell to the losers bracket of the Knoxville regional Saturday morning with a 4-0 loss to second-seeded Virginia Tech, but the Lady Vols earned another shot at the Hokies by beating Louisville 8-1 in the nightcap at Lee Stadium.

The championship round begins today at 1:30 p.m., and Virginia Tech (46-15) needs just one win for a berth in next weekend’s super regional round. Tennessee (49-15) needs two wins to eliminate the Hokies.

In other words, the Lady Vols have to figure out Tincher in a hurry. That’s no small task. Even the world’s best team struggled against Tincher (35-6), who no-hit Team USA in March to end its 185-game winning streak in pre-Olympics tours.

“She’s not just any other pitcher,” UT co-head coach Ralph Weekly said of Tincher, one of just three college players to record 2,000 career strikeouts. “She’s a great pitcher. It’s tough.”

Freshman first baseman Jen Lapicki nearly cut UT’s deficit in half in the bottom of the seventh inning, but her potential home run was a few feet foul.

Virginia Tech’s No. 9 hitter — left fielder Carolina Stolle — was more fortunate. She lined an opposite-field grand slam off UT’s Megan Rhodes in the fourth inning in the game’s only run-scoring play.

Stolle, who bats barely better than .150, fouled off several Rhodes fastballs before gliding a full-count curve just over the right-center-field wall.

“I’m actually looking for a career in broadcasting, so maybe this will help,” Stolle said of her clutch play. “I’ve always handled pressure pretty well, so maybe it has something to do with that.

“Or maybe I just like the spotlight.”

Stolle should have been retired one pitch before her slam, but Lady Vols senior shortstop Kenora Posey couldn’t come up with a fouled fly behind third base that would have ended the inning. Posey, generally regarded as one of the nation’s fastest players, stumbled and took her eye off the ball while colliding with the third-base umpire.

Posey hesitated to blame the collision or the high afternoon sun, but she admitted she “probably would have had that ball” in most situations.

“That wasn’t the only problem,” Weekly said. “We just didn’t get it done (against Virginia Tech).”

Former GPS standout Lillian Hammond was moved up to the Lady Vols’ leadoff spot against Louisville, and she provided an immediate spark. She led off with a bunt single, advanced to second on an error and scored on a double-steal to give UT a 1-0 lead.

“If we can get Lilly on base, we can make some things happen,” UT co-head coach Karen Weekly said.

The Lady Vols blew open a close game with four runs in the fifth inning, and Lapicki’s two-run home run off the left-field scoreboard capped the scoring in the seventh. She was 4-for-4 with four RBIs.

Rhodes (22-10), who left the Virginia Tech game after the grand slam, responded like a senior against Louisville. She surrendered just five hits in a complete-game victory.

Asked what adjustments she would make against Virginia Tech today, Rhodes laughed and said, “Maybe not throw the same pitch to Stolle.”

Good idea. One run might be all Tincher needs.