University of North Carolina Athletics
Brittany Pickett Tabs Second ACC Pitcher Of The Week Honor
April 18, 2017 | Softball
GREENSBORO – North Carolina freshman Brittany Pickett was named ACC Co-Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday, marking her second weekly honor of the season. Pickett, who was also named Pitcher of the Week on March 14, picks up the fifth weekly conference honor for the Tar Heels this season, following Player of the Week awards for Katie Bailiff (2/21) and Kendra Lynch (2/28, 3/14).
Pickett was dominant in the circle and at the plate, leading Carolina to a perfect week by going 4-0 in the circle with a 0.56 ERA. The leftie hurler allowed just two earned runs over 25.0 innings pitched, running up 20 strikeouts while twirling a pair of complete-game shutouts.
The Indian Trail, North Carolina, native began the week by winning a pitcher's duel with USC Upstate. She pitched a three-hit shutout in the circle and went 2-for-2 at the plate. Her leadoff single in the bottom of the fifth led to the lone run of the game, as UNC defeated the Spartans, 1-0.
Pickett brought another three-hit shutout into the seventh inning in the Boston College series opener. Two fielding errors by her teammates got her into some trouble, be she still held on for the 7-4 victory while tying the team season high with nine strikeouts. She went right back out to the circle for game two of the doubleheader and tossed her second complete-game shutout in three days. The slugger collected one of Carolina's three hits while once again holding the Eagles to just three hits in the 2-0 victory.
After Carolina fell behind 2-0 early in Saturday's BC finale, Pickett took over in relief to start the fourth inning. She hit a game-tying home run in the bottom of the fourth and pitched a total of four quality innings, allowing just three hits and a single run to earn her fourth victory of the week by a final score of 8-3.
With four wins on the week, Pickett improved to 20-2 on the season, which is tied for the best record in the ACC. She is one of just five pitchers in the nation to have at least 20 wins and two or fewer losses this season, and her .909 winning percentage is the highest in UNC history.
In addition to her strong play in the circle, Pickett led the team by hitting .545 (6-for-11) with two home runs and a 1.091 slugging percentage.
Pickett shares this week's honor with Syracuse's Alexa Romero. A fellow left-handed freshman, Romero led the Orange to a 5-0 week with road sweeps of Canisius and Pittsburgh. The freshman threw back-to-back run-rule shutouts, hurling a career-high 12 strikeouts in a four-hitter against Pittsburgh in the six-inning victory in the series opener. Romero followed with 2.1 perfect innings of relief in game two to earn her first career save. Overall, she went 3-0 with a save and 27 strikeouts over 20.1 innings pitched.
Romero's teammate Faith Cain was named ACC Player of the Week after batting .526 over five Orange victories, including going 4-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs in the Pittsburgh series finale to help Syracuse complete the road series sweep.
Pickett and the Tar Heels will face Romero, Cain and the Orange in Syracuse this weekend in the penultimate ACC series of the season. But first, Carolina closes out its homestand on Wednesday, April 19, with a nonconference matchup with Winthrop at 5 p.m.
| 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 |
| Mar. 21 | Jessica Warren, Jr., FSU | Jessica Burroughs, R-Sr., FSU |
| Mar. 28 | Carsyn Gordon, So., FSU | Jessica Burroughs, R-Sr., FSU |
| Apr. 4 | Aysha Richardson, Jr., VT | Jessica Dreswick, Jr., BC |
| Apr. 11 | McKayla Taylor, Jr., PITT | Katie Beriont, Jr., ND |
| Apr. 18 | Faith Cain, Jr., SYR | Brittany Pickett, Fr., UNC Alexa Romero, Fr., Syr |
