University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC Travels To Campbell On Tuesday
March 14, 2017 | Softball
| Campbell (15-13, 0-0 Big South) |
| When: March 14 - 5 PM |
| Where: Amanda Littlejohn Stadium |
| Admission: Free |
| Live Stats: GoCamels.com |
| Series: UNC leads 60-15; Streak: Won 1 |
BUIES CREEK, N.C. - North Carolina (21-5) travels to Campbell University on Tuesday, March 14, for a nonconference matchup against the Camels. The Tar Heels enter Tuesday's game riding a five-game winning streak while having won 21 of their last 23 games. The midweek contest is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. — a change from the original time due to postseason events also being held at Campbell on Tuesday.
Competing with the Camels
North Carolina is 60-15 against in-state foe Campbell, including a 9-6 victory last season on April 27. Thirty of those 75 meetings came during the slow pitch era from 1977-83, as UNC is 38-7 all time in fastpitch and under Coach Papa.
Carolina is 16-2 in Buies Creek under Papa, including a 3-0 shutout in the Heels' last trip to Campbell in 2013.
The Heels have faced CU on the big stage twice, hosting Campbell in NCAA Regionals in 2008 and 2009. The Camels knocked the Tar Heels out of the postseason with a walk-off 7-6 victory in 2008. Carolina got its revenge the following season, dismantling CU, 21-2, in the NCAA Regional opener.
Tar Heels Off To Best Start In History
North Carolina captured its 20th victory of the season on March 11, doing so it just the 25th game of the year to match the fastest UNC has ever reached the 20-win plateau. The Tar Heels opened the season 20-5 in six previous seasons, most recently doing so in 2015.
Currently sitting at 21-5 on the year, the 2017 Tar Heels are one of just four Carolina teams to win 21 of their first 26 games, having also started 21-5 in 1987, 1991 and 2015. The most wins UNC has ever earned before its sixth loss came in 1987, Papa's second season, when the Heels began the year 23-5.
Heels Earn Four ACC Weekly Honors
Tar Heel catcher Katie Bailiff was named ACC Player of the Week on Feb. 21, after a fantastic week at the plate on Feb. 15-19. The sophomore hit .615 (8-13) with four doubles, two home runs and 10 RBIs, slugging an impressive 1.385 over four starts. The Trinity, N.C., native came through when it mattered, hitting .875 (7-8) with runners in scoring position and .800 (4-5) with two outs, including a walk-off RBI double on Friday against Ohio State.
Senior pitcher/designated player Kendra Lynch earned the honor the following week on Feb. 28, after hitting .588 with a 1.118 slugging percentage over a 5-0 week at home. Lynch totaled 10 hits, three doubles, two home runs, five runs scored and 11 RBIs over five starts, while going 2-0 with a 1.43 ERA over 14.2 innings in the circle. In her best performance of the week, Lynch went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth while throwing 7.2 shutout innings against Towson in an extra-innings victory.
Lynch won her second Player of the Week award on March 14, when Brittany Pickett became the first of the year to earn ACC Pitcher of the Week. Lynch slugged 1.182 over seven games, with seven of her nine hits going for extra bases including five home runs. Pickett went 2-0 with two saves on the week, recording a perfect 0.00 ERA with 12 strikeouts and just two walks over 16.0 innings pitched.
UNC Sweeps Holy City Showdown
North Carolina swept it second consecutive nonconference tournament on March 10-12, going a perfect 5-0 at the Holy City Showdown hosted by College of Charleston in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. The Tar Heels shutout Chattanooga, 8-0, then used a run in the top of the seventh to defeat the host Cougars, 3-2, in opening day. Carolina's defense allowed just two runs on Saturday, defeating UMass Lowell 3-1 and Northern Kentucky, 8-1, thTheen scored in five of six innings against Robert Morris to complete the perfect weekend, 10-3.
Taylor Wike led UNC at the plate on the weekend, hitting .500 with a .786 slugging percentage, seven runs, five RBIs and five stolen bases. Kendra Lynch drove in a team-best seven runs, slugging 1.000 with three home runs, while Carolina's baserunners stole a total of 18 bases as compared to just three allowed by opponents.
All five UNC pitchers got in on the action, combining for an 0.80 ERA, allowing just four earned runs (seven total) over 35 innings. Three of UNC's five pitchers posted a perfect 0.00 ERA, including freshman Brittany Pickett who went 2-0 with a save and 10 strikeouts over 10.2 innings pitched.
NCAA Leaders
Carolina is among the best in the nation statistically, ranking in the top 20 as a team in five stat categories. UNC ranks 10th in the nation in double per game (1.81), 14th in slugging percentage (.524), 16th in home runs per game (1.15), 17th in stolen bases per game (2.31) and ninth in double plays turned (0.62/g).
Individually, Kendra Lynch ranks in the top 10 in the nation in four offensive categories. She leads the NCAA in total bases (78), ranks third in home runs (11), fifth in RBIs (34) and eighth in doubles (10). She also ranks in the top 50 in six additional categories.
Berlynne Delamora's patience at the plate has paid off, ranking third in the nation with 28 walks, while Brittany Pickett is one of four pitchers in the nation to have recorded four saves this season—a UNC record.
Back in the Rankings
UNC received votes in both the NFCA and ESPN.com preseason polls, but a rough opening weekend dropped the Tar Heels out of the limelight. However, a double-digit winning streak in late February-early March sent UNC back into the national conversation, as the Tar Heels returned to the polls on March 7, receiving votes in both major polls to come in at 28th.
A perfect weekend at the Holy City Showdown helped the Heels further state their case, as UNC entered the top 25 for the first time in the new DISoftballNews poll on March 13 at No. 24. UNC remains just outside the top 25 in the NFCA poll and ESPN.com polss, moving up to 27th in the Coaches Poll and a single vote shy 25th from ESPN.com.
Saving The Day
North Carolina's pitching staff has had each other's backs all season, teaming up in nearly every game. A pitcher threw a complete game in just five of the first 26 competitions of the season, with Kendra Lynch and Brittany Pickett the only individuals so far to go the distance.
UNC has recorded three shutout victories this season, with just one coming from a single pitcher. Brittany Pickett earned Carolina's only complete-game shutout on Feb. 18, a 5-0 decision over Purdue. Pickett started UNC's next two shutouts, going six shutout innings at ECU before Hannah Nommensen came in for the seventh. Pickett then threw five shutout innings against Chattanooga, followed by perfect sixth and seventh innings by Nommensen and Kellyn Daly.
The continued use of relief has helped keep the staff fresh through the grind of the NCAA softball season. Additionally, it has allowed for an increase in save situations. Brittany Pickett has started just six games (three of which turned into shutouts), while making 13 relief appearances. Eight of Nommensen's 11 appearances came off the bench, while Sydney Matzko only started four of her eight opportunities and Daly has made a single start in four outings. Lynch is the sole Carolina pitcher not to have a relief appearance.
Pickett's speed has helped her be extremely effective in relief, as the Tar Heel rookie as already tied UNC's record with four saves on the season. She is one of four pitchers in the NCAA this season to have earned four saves. Matzko has come in for two saves and Nommensen picked up the save against UMass Lowell on Feb. 11.
UNC has seven saves as a team, just one shy of the program record set in 2005. Three different Tar Heels have posted at least one save for the fourth time in program history, a feat matched in 2006, 2005 and 2000.
Walk This Way
Third baseman Berlynne Delamora, who ranked fifth all time in UNC history last season in on-base percentage, proved to be the hardest out at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, reaching base safely in 12 consecutive plate appearances from Feb 18-22. The streak, which featured 10 walks and two singles, was the sixth-longest in NCAA history.
Delamora walked in all seven of her plate appearances on Saturday, Feb. 18, against Purdue and Ohio State, a streak bested by just eight players in NCAA history.
She then walked in six consecutive trips to the plate from March 8-10, which ties the 14th-longest streak in softball history.
Through the first 26 games of the season, Delamora has a total of 28 walks, which leads the ACC and ranks third in the nation. Her mark of 1.08 walks per game ranks sixth in the NCAA and is well above the UNC record of 0.79 set by teammate Taylor Wike in 2015. The third baseman is well on pace to break UNC's single-season total walks record, set last season by Kristen Brown at 43.
