There almost certainly isn't a softball coach in America who can claim two consecutive wins over the U.S. Olympic team. Virginia Tech's Scot Thomas will try to do that tonight, when he coaches the Salem All-Stars, a team comprising college players from Virginia, in an exhibition game against Team USA.

Thomas' Hokies beat the Olympic team 1-0 in March -- the only loss in Team USA's 58-game Bound for Beijing Tour. Tonight's 7 o'clock game at Kiwanis Field in Salem is the tour's penultimate date. The Olympic team finishes the tour Saturday in Irvine, Calif.

Team USA is trying to win its fourth consecutive gold medal and opens its Beijing Olympic schedule Aug. 12 against Venezuela. But tonight, the Olympians will reunite with four Tech players who helped hand them their first pre-Olympic exhibition loss since 1996, snapping a 185-game winning streak.

Tech's representatives are first baseman Beth Walker and catcher Amber Walker, outfielder Jessica Everhart and designated player Jenna Rhodes. NCAA rules prohibit Thomas from coaching more than four of his players in a game like this.

Other players include Virginia catcher Kelly Haller, James Madison pitcher Jenny Clohan and Radford's Ashley Taylor, the three-time Big South pitcher of the year, who will start.

Salem's roster does not include Tech pitcher Angela Tincher, who no-hit the Olympic team in March. Tincher is playing this summer for the Akron Racers of the National Pro Fastpitch league.

Tincher started and pitched three innings in an exhibition game Tuesday against the Olympic team. She gave up a run, two hits and a walk while striking out five. She earned a no-decision in Akron's 6-2 loss a fairly reasonable margin, considering the Olympic team has beaten teams on this tour by scores of 31-0, 24-0 and 23-0.

Regardless of tonight's outcome, and despite Tincher's absence, "it's gonna be a great environment," Thomas said. Though the game is sold out, people from South Carolina to Maryland to Tennessee have called to ask about tickets, said Brad Epperley, director of Salem's Moyer Sports Complex and a primary organizer of the game.

Kiwanis Field should provide an interesting setting. It is a baseball stadium that serves as Roanoke College's home field. Converting it to a softball field included setting up bleachers in the outfield, just beyond the new softball fence.

This is the third time Salem has hosted an Olympic team exhibition, and the second time the game has featured local players. In 2004, Team USA beat a team of local college players, similar to this group. Thomas coached that team. In 2001, Team USA played a pro team from the Women's Pro Softball League, now known as National Pro Fastpitch.

Of the 14 players on this year's team, only Emily Nieman, a West Virginia Wesleyan first baseman from Phoenix, is not from the state of Virginia. None of these players were on the 2004 squad that played the Olympic team, Thomas said, making Tech's four players the only ones with experience against Team USA.

So Thomas wants to make the night memorable for his players. "That's what we're gonna be working on, trying to get everybody in the game," he said.