University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Host USC Upstate Tuesday
March 29, 2016 | Softball
CHAPEL HILL - Carolina softball continues its eight-game homestand on Tuesday, March 29, with a visit from USC Upstate. Tuesday's game will be a White Out. Fans are encouraged to wear white to Tuesday's game and the first 150 fans in attendance will receive a white rally towel. The game will air live on GoHeelsTV and can be followed at UNCLiveStats.com.
USC Upstate (28-6, 3-3 Atlantic Sun) has had tremendous success since reclassifying as Division I and joining the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2008. The Spartans won the A-Sun regular season their first year in the conference (2008), then went a combined 40-4 over the past two seasons to win back-to-back regular-season titles. Upstate won the A-Sun Tournament for the first time in 2013, then repeated as tournament champ in 2015 to punch its third consecutive ticket to NCAA Regionals. The Spartans have appeared in four NFCA polls this season, receiving votes in the preseason poll, then garnering votes in three consecutive polls in March before dropping out this week after losing two of three to Florida Gulf Coast this past weekend. The Spartans continue to receive votes in the ESPN.com poll, garnering the 30th-most votes this week.
The Tar Heels have faced USC Upstate four times in program history, including once in each of the past two seasons. Upstate won, 1-0, in its first ever trip to Chapel Hill on March 6, 2014, then defeated UNC, 9-4, at home on March 10, 2015. Prior to 2014, the pair had only met once before for a doubleheader in Spartanburg back on April 1, 1992, when the Spartans were still a member of NCAA Division II. Upstate won the first game, 2-0, but UNC took the nightcap, 3-2.
