University of North Carolina Athletics
Pickett, Lynch Earn ACC Weekly Honors
March 14, 2017 | Softball
GREENSBORO – North Carolina freshman Brittany Pickett was named ACC Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday morning, while senior Kendra Lynch took home ACC Co-Player of the Week, sharing the honor with Boston College catcher and third baseman Tatiana Cortez. Lynch wins the award for the second time this season, having previously been named ACC Player of the Week on Feb. 28, while Pickett earns her first career conference award.
Tuesday's awards are the third and fourth for Carolina this season, as catcher Katie Bailiff was the first Tar Heel to pick up a weekly award this year, winning ACC Player of the Week on Feb. 21. Pickett is the first to win ACC Pitcher of the Week this season, following a trio of honors for Lynch in 2016.
Pickett made five pitching appearances over the week, going 2-0 with two saves over a total of 16.0 innings. The Tar Heel rookie did not allow an earned run and totaled 12 strikeouts while allowing just two walks.
A native of Indian Trail, North Carolina, Pickett kicked off the week by tossing three perfect innings of relief against Charlotte to pick up the save. After tossing 2.1 innings of relief at UNCG on Wednesday, she opened the Holy City Showdown by tossing five shutout innings in her start against Chattanooga. The Tar Heels would go on to win 8-0, completing her second combined shutout (third total) of the year.
After Carolina took the lead, 3-2, in the top of the seventh at the College of Charleston, Pickett came in for a scoreless bottom of the seventh to seal up her fourth save of the season. Less than halfway through her rookie year, Pickett has already tied the Carolina single-season saves record and is one of four pitchers in the nation to have secured four saves on the year.
Pickett closed out the weekend with 4.2 innings of stellar relief against Robert Morris, allowing just three hits with no walks and five strikeouts to improve to 9-0 on the season. Additionally, the Tar Heel slugger was strong at the plate against the Colonials, going 2-for-2 with an RBI double, a two-run home run and two walks to lead UNC to the 10-3 victory and seal up a perfect 5-0 weekend.
Kendra Lynch started all seven games in the batting lineup at either pitcher or designated hitter, hitting .409 with a 1.182 slugging percentage. Seven of her team-leading nine hits on the week went for extra bases, including an impressive five home runs to go with four walks and 11 RBIs. The senior leader had an extra-base hit in six of UNC's seven games.
A native of Indianapolis, Indiana, Lynch began the week by reaching base all three times against Charlotte with a walk, an RBI double and a solo home run to lead the Heels past the 49ers, 5-1. She hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning at UNCG to give UNC a shot at a comeback, then homered in back-to-back at-bats for four RBIs in the weekend opener against Chattanooga. Lynch reached base three times in the 3-2 victory over Charleston, driving in the first run of the game with an RBI double, then walked and homered against Northern Kentucky on Saturday. She concluded the weekend by leading off a four-run sixth inning with a single against Robert Morris.
Lynch has put together a spectacular campaign at the plate to start her senior year, leading the nation in total bases (78), while ranking third in the NCAA in home runs (11), fifth in RBIs (34) and eighth in doubles (10). She currently sits in second place all time at UNC with a career slugging percentage of .639, is third with 42 home runs and tied for sixth with 134 RBIs.
Lynch shares this week's award with Boston College senior Tatiana Cortez. Cortez had a record-setting weekend for the Eagles. Against Penn, the senior tied BC's record for RBIs in a single game with seven. The Texan went on to break the school record for career RBIs (315) and tied the program record for career home runs (41) against USF. After their conference series against Virginia, Cortez posted a 1.167 slugging percentage, .500 batting average, 14 RBIs and three home runs.
| 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, R-Sr., FSU |
| Feb. 28 | Kendra Lynch, Sr., UNC | Kayle Harris, Jr., Pitt |
| Mar. 7 | Vanessa Gonzalez, Sr., VT | Jessica Burroughs, R-Sr., FSU |
| Mar. 14 | Kendra Lynch, Sr., UNC Tatiana Cortez, Sr., BC |
Brittany Pickett, Fr., UNC |
