University of North Carolina Athletics
Katie Bailiff Named ACC Player Of The Week
February 21, 2017 | Softball
GREENSBORO – North Carolina sophomore Katie Bailiff was named ACC Player of the Week on Tuesday after leading the Tar Heels to a fantastic home opening week at Anderson Stadium. Bailiff went 8-for-13 at the plate (.615) with four doubles, two home runs and 10 RBIs, slugging 1.385 over four starts behind the plate. Bailiff is the first Tar Heel to win a weekly award this season and takes home her first career conference honor.
“I am thrilled and excited for Katie,” said head coach Donna J. Papa. “It is always great to be recognized in our outstanding conference for your achievements during a week. She had a monster week and has had great composure up at the plate. She is swinging with a lot of confidence right now and is seeing the ball very well. Her 12-pitch at-bat versus Purdue ending in a home run put an exclamation point on what she did all week leading up to that. Katie was also a wall behind the plate this weekend and had a pick-off to go along with her offense.”
The Tar Heels went a perfect 4-0 on the week with Bailiff behind the plate, who had at least one hit and two RBIs in each of her four starts. The Trinity, North Carolina, native began the week by going 1-for-2 with a two-run home run in Carolina's 6-2 victory over Elon in the Tar Heels' home opener.
Bailiff played the hero against Ohio State on Friday night, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs to kick off the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Tar Heel catcher gave Carolina the lead with a two-run double in the bottom of the first. After the Buckeyes tied the score in the top of the seventh, Bailiff did it again, crushing a walk-off RBI double to right to give UNC the 8-7 victory.
The sophomore catcher kept up her hot bat the following morning, going 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs while guiding freshman pitcher Brittany Pickett to a complete-game shutout from behind the plate. Bailiff then returned to the starting lineup for the weekend finale against the Boilermakers, where she went 2-for-3 with a double and a two-run home run in Carolina's nine-run fourth inning.
Bailiff showed composure at the plate and came through when it mattered, hitting .875 (7-for-8) with runners in scoring position and .800 (4-for-5) with two outs.
In addition to Player of the Week, the conference awarded Florida State senior Jessica Burroughs with ACC Pitcher of the Week. Burroughs earned three wins in four appearances, allowing just three hits and two walks with 23 strikeouts over 13.2 shutout innings. Burroughs, who has not allowed a run since Feb. 11 for a 20.1 inning scoreless streak, held opposing batters to just .067 hitting on the week.
| Date | Player of the Week | Pitcher of the Week |
| Feb. 14 | Jordan Chimento, Jr., BC | Brittany Knight, Fr., Pitt |
| Feb. 21 | Katie Bailiff, So., UNC | Jessica Burroughs, Sr., FSU |
