University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Set For Opening Weekend At Louisiana Classic
February 5, 2014 | Softball
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina softball kicks off the 2014 campaign this weekend at the Louisiana Classic in Lafayette, La.
The Tar Heels will face Northern Iowa in their opening game on Friday, Feb. 7 at 10 a.m. UNC will also face No. 10 Texas, the No. 13 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns and Purdue over the weekend. Carolina's game times for the Louisiana Classic as well as the complete 2014 schedule can be found here.
Live stats for all four games can be found here, and fans can also follow the games on Twitter by following @UNCSoftball.
UNC returns three All-ACC honorees in Kristen Brown, Amber Parrish and Lori Spingola for the 2014 season, along with eight position players, three pitchers and 15 letterwinners.
Carolina also welcomes five new freshmen to the squad in addition to Marissa Young, who joins head coach Donna J. Papa and assistant Tony Baldwin on the Tar Heels' coaching staff.
Scouting Louisiana Classic Opponents:
Northern Iowa, Louisiana and Texas all reached the 2013 NCAA Tournament. The Cajuns closed out the season ranked No. 12 while Texas, which reached the 2013 Women's College World Series, finished in the No. 3 spot last year.
Northern Iowa - This will be the first meeting between UNC and UNI. The Panthers finished 2013 with a 27-26 (13-8 MVC) mark, finishing first in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
Texas - UNC is 1-3-1 against Texas, dropping a 1-0 game to the Longhorns in 2010. Texas made its fifth trip to the WCWS in 2013 while finishing 51-10 and 14-4 in Big 12 play.
Purdue - The Tar Heels defeated the Boilermakers 2-1 in nine innings at LSU's Tiger Classic last year, giving UNC a 3-1 all-time record against Purdue. The Boilermakers finished the 2013 season at 23-32 overall and 8-15 in the Big Ten.
Louisiana - UNC is 4-1 against Louisiana and lost a 7-1 game to the Cajuns in 2008. Former Tar Heel standout Lisa Norris ('10) was named an assistant coach for the Ragin' Cajuns prior to the 2014 season.
