University of North Carolina Athletics
Softball To Host Carolina Classic
February 24, 2016 | Softball
CHAPEL HILL - UNC returns to Anderson Stadium this weekend to host Butler, Fairfield, Georgetown and IUPUI in the annual Carolina Classic on Feb. 26-28, 2016. The Tar Heels have hosted an early-season nonconference tournament nearly every season, including going 4-0 at the 2015 Carolina Classic with a signature victory over Texas.
| Participating Teams | |||
| Butler | Fairfield | Georgetown | IUPUI |
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| Roster | Schedule Statistics | Team Site |
Roster | Schedule Statistics | Team Site |
Roster | Schedule Statistics | Team Site |
Roster | Schedule Statistics | Team Site |
| Tournament Schedule | |||
| Friday, Feb. 26 | |||
| 12 p.m. | IUPUI vs. Georgetown | Live Stats | |
| 2:30 p.m. | Butler vs. Fairfield | Live Stats | |
| 5 p.m. | Butler vs. North Carolina | Live Stats | |
| Saturday, Feb. 27 | |||
| 10:30 a.m. | Georgetown vs. Fairfield | Live Stats | |
| 1 p.m. | Georgetown vs. IUPUI | Live Stats | |
| 3:30 p.m. | IUPUI vs. North Carolina | Live Stats | |
| 6 p.m. | Fairfield vs. Butler | Live Stats | |
| Sunday, Feb. 28 | |||
| 10:30 a.m. | Butler vs. IUPUI | Live Stats | |
| 1 p.m. | Fairfield vs. North Carolina | Live Stats | |
| 3:30 p.m. | Georgetown vs. North Carolina | Live Stats | |
Carolina Classic
The Tar Heels host Butler, Fairfield, Georgetown and IUPUI this weekend in the annual Carolina Classic. UNC is fairly unfamiliar with its weekend opponents, having seen the four teams a total of just six times. UNC is 2-0 all time against Butler, Fairfield and Georgetown and will face IUPUI on Sunday for the first time in program history. This weekend will mark the first time in five years that UNC will face any of the tournament field, with the last meeting against Georgetown in 2011, Fairfield in 2010 and Butler not since 1999.
Two Tar Heels Earn ACC Weekly Honors
After the first two weeks of the season, Carolina has had a student win a weekly award from ACC every week. Kendra Lynch became the first Tar Heel since 2013 to win ACC Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 15 after tossing a pair of complete-game shutouts on opening weekend. Kristen Brown was then named ACC Player of the Week on Feb. 22 after leading the Big Ten/ACC Challenge with a 1.375 slugging percentage and three home runs.
Big Ten Wins Inaugural CHallenge
Carolina was been selected as one of four host sites for the first annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge held Feb. 19-21, 2016, on the campuses of UNC, Florida State, Georgia Tech and NC State. Each site featured 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 Big Ten dominated the first-ever challenge, winning 20 of the 32 games. The Big Ten narrowly defeated the ACC at the Chapel Hill site, with Northwestern and Illinois coming away with five of the eight victories.
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 five long balls already in 2016, Brown now has 52 home runs and sits in seventh in ACC record book, 13 behind the all-time ACC record of 65 set just last season by NC State's Renada Davis. Additionally, Brown needs just two RBIs to become Carolina's all-time leader and ranks sixth all time in the ACC. 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 | Georgia Tech | 2006-09 |
| 3. | 60 | Hope Rush | Goergia Tech | 2010-13 |
| 4. | 55 | Maddie O'Brien | Florida State | 2012-15 |
| 55 | Kelsi Wesernman | Georgia Tech | 2009-12 | |
| 6. | 54 | Jen Yee | Georgia Tech | 2007, 09-10 |
| 7. | 52 | Kristen Brown | UNC | 2013- |
ACC Career RBI Leaders |
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| 1. | 228 | Whitney Haller | Georgia Tech | 2006-09 |
| 2. | 216 | Maddie O'Brien | Florida State | 2012-15 |
| 3. | 201 | Kelsi Weserman | Georgia Tech | 2009-12 |
| 4. | 194 | Savannah Brown | Georgia Tech | 2005-08 |
| 5. | 181 | Sara Larquier | UVA | 2003-06 |
| 6. | 172 | Anne Knobbe | Georgia Tech | 1997-99 |
| 7. | 164 | Natalie Anter | UNC | 1999-02 |
| 8. | 162 | Kristen Brown | UNC | 2013- |
The Tar Heel slugger is also among the best in the nation among active players, ranking in the top 50 in seven different career offensive categories, including fifth in home runs and sixth in both RBIs and total bases.
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 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 seven opponents that are ranked this week in the NFCA or ESPN.com polls, including No. 2 Michigan, No. 8/9 Georgia and No. 10/12 James Madison, with an additional two opponents 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.
