University of North Carolina Athletics
Kendra Lynch Named ACC Player Of The Week
February 28, 2017 | Softball
GREENSBORO – North Carolina senior Kendra Lynch was named ACC Player of the Week on Tuesday after using explosive and timely offense to lead Carolina to a perfect 5-0 week at home. Lynch is the second consecutive Tar Heel to take home the honor, after teammate Katie Bailiff won the conference weekly award on Feb. 21. A three-time ACC Pitcher of the Week last season, Lynch earns Player of the Week for the first time in her career. In addition to the conference committee, College Sports Madness also tabbed Lynch as its ACC Player of the Week.
"I am excited for Kendra," said head coach Donna J. Papa. "It is well deserved. She had a monster week at the plate and had strong performances on the mound. She established herself as our senior leader this weekend and helped take this team through a big week with our South Carolina win and our four tournament wins."
Lynch had a spectacular week at the plate, hitting .588 (10-for-17) with three doubles, two home runs, five runs scored and 11 RBIs. The Indianapolis native registered at least one run, RBI and extra-base hit in all five starts, with four multi-hit performances and four multi-RBI games, slugging 1.118 with a .667 on-base percentage. Named the Most Valuable Player of the Carolina Classic, she led the tournament in hits, total bases, home runs and RBIs, as well as ERA and opposing batting average.
The senior kicked off the week by going 2-for-3 with an RBI double on Wednesday to lead Carolina to its first win over rival South Carolina since 2012. She turned in a spectacular all-around performance on Friday night, reaching base in all five plate appearances against Towson, going 3-for-3 with a bases-clearing double. Lynch allowed just four hits and a walk over five shutout innings before leaving the circle with a 4-0 lead. After her reliever got into trouble, Lynch returned to the circle in the seventh and went on to pitch 2.2 nearly-perfect innings, allowing just one base runner on an error. She then led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk and scored the game-winning run on a shallow sacrifice fly to give UNC its first extra-innings victory.
Carolina entered the bottom of the seventh inning trailing 7-2 to Miami (Ohio) on Saturday, when a two-run double by Lynch sparked a miraculous comeback to stun the Redhawks, 8-7. Lynch closed out the weekend with three hits and five RBIs in the doubleheader against Marshall and Hampton, slugging a home run in both games to secure the weekend sweep.
Lynch made two starts in the circle for Carolina, going 2-0 with a 1.43 ERA over 14.2 innings pitched, holding opponents to .179 hitting.
In addition to Lynch, Pittsburgh's Kayla Harris was named ACC Pitcher of the Week. The junior went 1-1 with a save, including tossing the second perfect game in program history against Southeast Louisiana on Sunday.
Carolina hits the road on Wednesday, March 1, for a midweek matchup at East Carolina before opening Atlantic Coast Conference play at home this weekend against Harris and the Pittsburgh Panthers.
| 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 |
| Feb. 28 | Kendra Lynch, Sr., UNC | Kayle Harris, Jr., Pitt |
