University of North Carolina Athletics
Heels Host Eagles In Final Home ACC Series
April 14, 2017 | Softball
CHAPEL HILL - North Carolina (32-11, 10-5 ACC) hosts Boston College (24-14, 8-3 ACC) this weekend in the final home ACC series of the season. The Heels and Eagles are both among the top three teams in the ACC standings, giving both teams a chance to distance itself from the pack in order to secure the best seed possible for the ACC Tournament, hosted by UNC on May 11-13. In observance of Easter, UNC will play a doubleheader at 4 p.m. on Friday followed by a single game on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Senior Day Saturday
Prior to Saturday's series finale, Carolina will host a Senior Day ceremony to honor the Class of 2017. The Heels will recognize pitcher Kendra Lynch, catcher Erin Sugg, manager Allie Leake and second-year GA athletic trainer Aliza Nedimyer for their contributions to the Tar Heel softball program.
Additionally, the first 200 fans to Saturday's game will receive a free Carolina foam finger.
Lynch Named Finalist For Collegiate Player of The Year
Kendra Lynch was named one of 34 finalists for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year on April 12. The senior ranks in the top three in the nation in total bases, home runs and RBIs.
She is the third Tar Heel to be named a finalist for the Division I Softball's highest honor, following Danielle Spaulding (2009, 2010) and Kristen Brown (2015).
Lynch is one of six ACC players to make the list of finalists, joining four Seminoles and Syracuse's Sydney O'Hara.
The list will be narrowed to a top 10 on May 10. The top-three finalists will be announced on May 24, and the winner will be revealed on May 30 prior to the WCWS.
NCAA Leaders
Carolina is among the best in the nation statistically, ranking in the top 25 as a team slugging percentage (.491), doubles (60), home runs (45), runs (232), stolen bases (88) and double plays (19). The Heels' 45 long balls rank seventh in the NCAA while their 88 SB is 12th.
Individually, Kendra Lynch leads the nation in total bases (113), ranks second in home runs (16) and third in RBIs (54). Additionally, she is one of 13 pitchers in the country to have pitched at least 70 innings an only hit a single batter.
Berlynne Delamora's patience at the plate has paid off, ranking sixth in the nation with 37 walks, while Brittany Pickett is second in the NCAA with five saves this season—a UNC record. Leah Murray ranks 11th in the nation with 31 stolen bases and has been the 12th-most-difficult batter to strike out, with just three Ks over 140 at-bats.
Happy at Home
The Tar Heels have been extremely successful at Anderson Stadium this season, going 20-3 on their home turf so far this year. It is the 10th time in program history that UNC has captured at least 20 games at home and the sixth time since Anderson Stadium opened in 2002.
Carolina is fortunate to be hosting the 2017 ACC Softball Championship on May 11-13. The Heels hope to continue their strong play at home through the postseason.
Carolina's record for home wins is 29 (29-4 in 2009). Should the Heels win all six remaining regular-season games and capture the ACC Tournament title, the Heels would match that mark.
Saving The Day
North Carolina's pitching staff has had each other's backs all season, teaming up in nearly every game. A single pitcher has gone the distance in just 12 games this season, with Kendra Lynch and Brittany Pickett the only individuals to throw a complete game.
UNC has recorded seven shutout victories this season and Brittany Pickett has pitched in all seven of them. The rookie pitched compete-game shutouts over Purdue (Feb. 18), NC State (March 24) and USC Upstate (April 12). She pitched the first six innings at ECU and first five innings against Chattanooga. Sydney Matzko went the first four innings against Campbell before Pickett earned the save with the final three. All five pitchers combined for a 2-0 shutout of UNCG on March 29, with Pickett going the first two and Lynch earning the win after retiring six of the final seven batters.
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 opportunities. Pickett leads the ACC with 34 appearances but has made just 16 starts (six of which turned into shutouts). 11 of Nommensen's 14 appearances came off the bench, while Matzko and Daly have combined for 14 relief appearances.
Pickett's speed has helped her be extremely effective in relief, as the Tar Heel rookie broke UNC's record on March 14 with her fifth save of the season and ranks second in the NCAA. Matzko has come in for two saves and Nommensen picked up the save against UMass Lowell on Feb. 11. Lynch entered the UNCG game in a save situation, pitching the final two innings with a 2-0 lead to protect, but was awarded the win as the most-effective relief pitcher after Pickett only pitched two innings as the starter and thus was ineligible for the save.
UNC now has eight saves as a team, which ties the program record set in 2005. Three different Tar Heels 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 43 games, Delamora has a total of 37 walks, which leads the ACC and ranks sixth in the nation. Her mark of 0.86 walks per game ranks 12th in the NCAA and is above the UNC record of 0.79 set by teammate Taylor Wike in 2015. The third baseman needs just six more free passes to reach UNC's single-season total walks record, set last season by Kristen Brown at 43.
Delamora has reached base in 39 of 43 games this season, including a streak of 29 straight from Feb. 18-March 31. It is the second-longest reached base streak for Carolina since at least 2005.
Kristen Brown holds the record (since 2005), putting together a 54-game streak from the end of 2015 through the majority of 2016. She reached base safely in all-but-one game as a senior, including the first 51 games of the year.
Amber Parrish reached base successfully in the final 26 games of her career in 2015.
Taylor Wike is the only other player to have reached base in more than 20-straight games since 2005. The junior has done so in each of her first three seasons, reaching in 23-straight as a freshman (2015), 22-in-a-row as a sophomore, and saw her personal-best 25-game streak come to an end against UNCG on March 29, 2017.
Leah Murray currently holds an active 19-game streak.
