University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Host N.C. State in ACC Home Opener
April 8, 2004 | Softball
April 8, 2004
Chapel Hill, N.C. - Two of the hottest teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference face each other on Friday when the North Carolina Tar Heels (32-14) host N.C. State (27-17) in a doubleheader. The Wolfpack are currently on a 10-game winning streak, while the Tar Heels are winners of 16 of their last 17. The ACC home opener for the UNC starts at 3 p.m. on Friday with Carolina women's head soccer coach Anson Dorrance throwing out the first pitch.
The matchup between UNC and N.C. State will be the first in history because this is the inaugural year of N.C. State softball. The game also marks the first official ACC game for the Wolfpack.
North Carolina kicked off its ACC season with a doubleheader sweep at Virginia on April 3. The Heels won 3-1, 7-2 as sophomore Julia Bove hit four RBI's and senior Emily Price went 4-7 with a home run and three runs scored in the sweep.
On the season, Price is hitting is .412 and is second in the ACC in home runs, with nine and hits with 1.22 per game. Senior Dionne Streete and junior Jessica Young are also swinging hot bats this season. Streete leads the ACC in doubles with 17 and is hitting .351 with 32 runs scored this year. Young has 10 doubles with five home runs and 22 RBI's for the season.
Crystal Cox and Alison Yin lead the pitching staff for UNC. Cox is 17-8 on the year with a 1.70 ERA. Yin also has a 1.70 ERA and has a 12-6 record.
N.C. State has won 10 straight games since being 17-17 on the year. The winning streak includes a 10-inning 3-2 win over Virginia. N.C. State is led by freshman pitcher Abbie Sims as she is this past's week's ACC Player of the Week award recipient. Sims has an ERA of 1.62 and is 18-6 on the year.
North Carolina women's soccer head coach Anson Dorrance will throw out the first pitch before the game. Dorrance is coming off a soccer season in which he won his 18th National Championship and led the UNC squad to their fifth undefeated and untied season in history.
