University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Host First Softball Big Ten/ACC Challenge
February 18, 2016 | Softball
North Carolina has been selected as one of four host sites for the first annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge to be held Feb. 19-21, 2016, on the campuses of UNC, Florida State, Georgia Tech and NC State. Each site will feature two ACC teams battling two Big Ten teams, with every participant facing the opposing conference members twice each.
The top eight teams from each conference according the 2014 Final RPI were invited to participate and were matched up in order, with then-#8 Florida State hosting the Big Ten's top-two teams and so on down the line.
The Tar Heels will host Boston College, Northwestern and Illinois. Florida State's site features Virginia Tech, Michigan and Minnesota. NC State will host Louisville, Nebraska and Wisconsin; and Georgia Tech will play host to Syracuse, Ohio State and Purdue.
| Tournament Schedule | |||
| Friday, Feb. 19 | |||
| 2:30 p.m. | Illinois vs. Boston College | Live Stats | |
| 5 p.m. | Northwestern vs. North Carolina | Live Stats | |
| Saturday, Feb. 20 | |||
| 10:30 a.m. | Boston College vs. Northwestern | Live Stats | |
| 1 p.m. | Boston College vs. Illinois | Live Stats | |
| 3:30 p.m. | North Carolina vs. Northwestern | Live Stats | |
| 6 p.m. | Illinois vs. North Carolina | Live Stats | |
| Sunday, Feb. 21 | |||
| 10 a.m. | Northwestern vs. Boston College | Live Stats | |
| 12:30 p.m. | North Carolina vs. Illinois | Live Stats | |
NC State Site | Florida State Site | Georgia Tech Site
Against the Big Ten
The Tar Heels are 90-60-1 all-time against current members of the Big Ten Conference and 24-26-1 against the eight Challenge participants. Carolina has faced its opponents just six times in program history, going 2-2 all-time against Northwestern and 2-0 against Illinois.
Carolina took on Illinois in the early days of the program, defeating a team of nearly all freshmen, 1-0, on 2001 opening weekend. The Tar Heels topped the Illini, 5-2, the following season but have not faced Illinois in the past 13 years.
The Tar Heels lost to Northwestern, 3-7, in last season's lid-lifter, but won the previous two meetings in 2012 (5-0) and 2010 (3-1). The Wildcats claimed their first-ever meeting on March 7, 2003, by a score of 8-0 in five innings.
About the Illini
Illinois pulled off a landmark victory on Saturday, defeating No. 10 Florida State, 5-1, thanks to a three-run home run by Nicole Tobon. However, the Illini won just one other game on the weekend, a 6-1 victory over Valparaiso, while falling to LIU Brooklyn, St. John's and host FIU in Miami. Illinois was led at the plate by upperclassmen Kylie Johnson (.385) and Nicole Evans (.333), with four of Evans' five hits going for two bases.
The Illini return a powerful offense that, like UNC, set program records for batting average and slugging percentage, going deep 68 times including 19 long balls by Evans. Despite last season's offensive production, Illinois hit just .276 and cleared the walk only once on opening weekend. Illinois is under new leadership, as head coach Tyra Perry took over the program last June after the program's first head coach retired after 16 seasons at the helm.
Word on the WIldcats
Northwestern went 3-2 on opening weekend at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Arizona, including claiming a pair of landslide victories over UC Riverside (15-3) and Virginia (22-4) on opening day. The Wildcats' two losses both came to top-10 teams, falling, 8-2, to No. 8 Tennessee and 9-3 to No. 6 Oregon. Senior Andrea Filler slugged her way through the tournament, going 9-for-16 with 13 RBIs and six extra-base hits for a 1.375 slugging percentage on opening weekend.
Downtown Kristen Brown
On April 22, 2015, then-junior Kristen Brown launched her 44th career home run to become Carolina's all-time home run leader. With two long balls on 2016 opening weekend, Brown now has 49 home runs, sitting in a tie for seventh in ACC record book, 16 behind the all-time ACC record of 65 set just last season by NC State's Renada Davis. The Tar Heel shortstop hit a program-record 24 homers in 2015.
ACC Career Home Run Leaders
1. 65 - Renada Davis, NC State, 2012-15
2. 61 - Whitney Haller, GT, 2006-09
3. 60 - Hope Rush, GT, 2010-13
4. 55 - Maddie O'Brien, FSU, 2012-15
55 - Kelsi Weserman, GT, 2009-12
6. 54 - Jen Yee, GT, 2007, 09-10
7. 49 - Kristen Brown, UNC, 2013-
49 - Jen Chamberlin, NC State, 2004-07
Lynch Hurls Two Shutouts at Texas Classic
Junior Kendra Lynch led Carolina to a brilliant season opener, hurling a 1-hit shutout—while going 2-for-3 in the batting lineup—with a career-high seven strikeouts to lead UNC to a 9-0 victory over 2016 Summit League Champion North Dakota State.
The Tar Heel starter closed the weekend much as it began, completing a 5-hit shutout of Arkansas on Valentine's Day. Her efforts at the Texas Classic earned her her first career conference honor with the first ACC Pitcher of the Week nod of the season.
Prior to this season, Lynch had pitched just three complete games and a total of 101.0 innings over two years, but shouldered the load fantastically with a 1.27 ERA over 22.0 innings in four appearances on opening weekend.
Brown Named Player of the Year Candidate
Senior Kristen Brown was selected as one of 50 candidates for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. The talented shortstop earns consideration for the national award for the second year in a row, having been a Top-26 Finalist in 2015. Twenty-five finalists will be named on April 13.
2016 Schedule
The Tar Heels put together a challenging slate for 2016, featuring 28 games against 16 NCAA Tournament participants, facing four of the 16 Super Regional qualifiers including NCAA Runner-Up Michigan.
Carolina will face seven 2015 conference champions, six of whom also won their conference tournaments.
The Tar Heels have six opponents that are ranked this week in the NFCA or ESPN.com polls, including No. 2 Michigan and No. 10/12 Georgia, with an additional five teams on the schedule that are receiving votes.
UNC will take on 13 teams that finished 2015 ranked in the top 50 in the RPI, facing eight of those teams on the road.
Brown Makes U.S. Women's Elite Team
Carolina senior Kristen Brown became the first Tar Heel in program history to earn a spot in the USA Softball program on January 8 when she was named to the 18-player U.S. Women's Elite Team. Brown was the second Carolina player invited to U.S. National Team Selection Camp, following Tiffany Tolleson (2002-03)'s invitation in 2003. Natalie Anter is the sole Tar Heel to ever compete in the Olympics, having represented Italy in Athens in 2004.
Wagner Wins AD's Scholar-Athlete Award
Senior Elly Wagner was honored by the athletic department on Jan. 20 with the Athletic Director's Scholar-Athlete Award, acknowledging her outstanding academic performance throughout her Carolina career. One player from each Carolina team was given the title, for a total of 26 winners for the 2015-16 academic year.
College Sports Madness Preseason Honors
Carolina senior Kristen Brown, a 2015 NFCA Third-Team All-American, was named to the Preseason All-America First Team by CollegeSportsMadness.com. The national sports website bestowed the honor of Preseason ACC Field Player of the Year on the Tar Heel shortstop as well and placed Brown among four Tar Heels on the Preseason All-ACC Team. Taylor Wike joined Brown on the Preseason All-ACC First Team, while Sydney Matzko and Aquilla Mateen both earned places on the Second Team.
