University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC's Postseason Begins At Home Against #6-Seed Syracuse
May 9, 2017 | Softball
CHAPEL HILL - North Carolina will host the 2017 ACC Softball Championship on May 11-13, 2017, at Anderson Stadium in Chapel Hill. The single-elimination tournament features the top eight ACC teams, seeded according to the regular-season ACC standings. The Tar Heels (36-18, 14-9 ACC) captured the #3-seed for the tournament and will host #6-seed Syracuse (31-18, 10-10 ACC) in the last of four Quarterfinals on Thursday, May 11, at 7:30 p.m. The winner of Thursday's game will go on to face the winner of #2 Louisville and #7 NC State in the second of two Semifinals at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, May 12. The ACC title game will take place on Saturday, May 13, at 2 p.m.
All six games in the first two rounds will air on the ACC's group of Regional Sports Networks, including Fox Sports South and Fox Sports Carolinas in North Carolina. Click here to find your local area affiliate. Most regional networks have online and mobile streaming options available to cable customers, including Fox Sports Go for those in the Fox Sports regions with participating cable subscriptions. Additionally, each of the first six games will be streamed on ACC Network Extra (WatchESPN), but will be subject to blackout in the regional network coverage areas. Saturday's ACC Championship game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN and online on WatchESPN.
| ACC Tournament Schedule | |||
| Thursday, May 11 | Live Coverage | ||
| 11 a.m. | #1 Florida State vs. #8 Virginia | RSN | ACC Network Extra | Live Stats | |
| 1:30 p.m. | #4 Boston College vs. #5 Notre Dame | RSN | ACC Network Extra | Live Stats | |
| 5 p.m. | #2 Louisville vs. #7 NC State | RSN | ACC Network Extra | Live Stats | |
| 7:30 p.m. | #3 North Carolina vs. #6 Syracuse | RSN | ACC Network Extra | Live Stats | |
| Friday, May 12 | |||
| 1 p.m. | Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner | RSN | ACC Network Extra | Live Stats | |
| 3:30 p.m. | Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner | RSN | ACC Network Extra | Live Stats | |
| Saturday, May 13 | |||
| 2 p.m. | ACC Championship | ESPN | WatchESPN | Live Stats | |
Tar Heels in the ACC Tournament
The Tar Heels have competed in the ACC Softball Championship every year since the inaugural tournament in 1992. Carolina won at least won game in 20 of 25 tournaments, advancing to the title game four times. UNC is 28-39 all time in 25 appearances, including going a perfect 3-0 with back-to-back wins over top-seeded No. 16 Florida State to capture the 2001 ACC Championship.
Since the move to a single-elimination bracket in 2008, Carolina has advanced to the Semifinals every season, returning to the Championship game in 2011 where it fell to #4-seed Florida State, 4-1.
Carolina has never been seeded lower than fifth in the history of the tournament and has gone 2-5 in three appearances as the #3-seed. UNC has claimed the #1-seed five times in program history but advanced to the final game as the top seed just once. UNC was the #2-seed for its ACC Championship season in 2001.
UNC hosts the ACC Tournament for the third time in program history. The conference tournament was held at Anderson Stadium in 2006 and 2012. UNC finished third at the tournament both times, going 2-2 in 2006 and 1-1 in 2012.
Against the Field
UNC is 7-4 all time against Syracuse, with all 11 games coming in the past five years. Syracuse defeated UNC, 6-2, in the first-ever meeting in 2012, and the Heels have since gone 7-3 against the Orange in conference play. The Tar Heels will face the Orange in the postseason this week for the first time ever.
Carolina visited Syracuse on April 21-23, 2017. After Friday's contest was pushed to a Sunday doubleheader due to wet field conditions, Syracuse took the first game on Saturday afternoon in a pitcher's duel, 3-1. The Tar Heels took an early 4-0 lead on Sunday, but the Orange came back to tie the score. UNC went up 7-4 off two seventh-inning home runs, but Syracuse again knotted the score in the bottom half to send the game to extras. A four-run top of the ninth made it 11-7 Carolina, and despite yet another battle by 'Cuse, the Heels escaped to even the series, 11-10. The pair returned to the diamond for game three, but after Sunday's morning game went nearly three hours, the series finale made it to just the third inning before Carolina had to leave for the airport.
Carolina swept the three-game series in 2014, including a pair of five-inning trouncings, then split a doubleheader in 2015 in the Heels' first trip to Syracuse. UNC won two of three at home last season, with the lone loss coming in extra innings.
Should Carolina advance, it would face the winner of #2 Louisville vs. #7 NC State. UNC is 5-6 all time against Louisville and has never faced the Cardinals in the ACC Tournament. UL is the only ACC team UNC did not face during the regular season. Carolina is 35-52 all time against NC State, including 23-22 since the Wolfpack re-established its program in 2004. The Heels have seen the Wolfpack seven times in the ACC Tournament. UNC lost its first four postseason games against NC State in 2005-08, but defeated State in 2009, 2010, and most recently in 2014.
Happy at Home
The Tar Heels have been successful at Anderson Stadium this season, going 23-6 on their home turf. 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. UNC's record for home wins is 29 (29-4 in 2009).
Lynch, Pickett Finalists for National Awards
Kendra Lynch was named one of 34 finalists for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, while Brittany Pickett was selected as a top-25 finalist for Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I Freshman of the Year.
Lynch 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), while Pickett is the second to make the Freshman of the Year list since the award's creation in 2014 (Taylor Wike, 2015).
Lynch ranks in the top 10 in the nation in total bases, home runs and RBIs, and is narrowing in on several career and single-season records. She was one of six ACC players to make the list of finalists, joining four Seminoles and Syracuse's Sydney O'Hara.
Pickett is the only ACC player to make the Freshman of the Year list. She has been fantastic in the circle and at the plate, going 20-7 with a UNC-record five saves, while ranking fourth in the ACC with 11 home runs.
Both awards will be narrowed down to a group of 10, then whittled to three, with the individual award winners announced on May 30-31 prior to the WCWS in Oklahoma City.
Tar Heels Garner Five ACC Weekly Awards
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.
Pickett earned ACC Pitcher of the Week once again on April 18 after going 4-0 with with a 0.56 ERA and 20 strikeouts over wins against USC Upstate and Boston College. The rookie hurled two three-hit shutouts in three days to lead UNC to a 4-0 week.
NCAA Leaders
Carolina is among the best in the nation statistically, ranking 13th in the nation with 55 home runs, 18th with 98 stolen bases, and 31st wtih a .463 slugging percentage.
Individually, Kendra Lynch ranks third in the nation in total bases (137), fourth in home runs (20), ninth in RBIs (62) and 12th in slugging percentage (.840). 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 14th in the nation with a school-record 45 walks, while Brittany Pickett is fifth in the NCAA with five saves this season—also a UNC record—and 31st in victories. Leah Murray ranks 18th in the nation with 34 stolen bases and has been the 30th-most-difficult batter to strike out, with just six Ks over 175 at-bats.
Walk This Way
On April 23, Berlynne Delamora drew her 44th walk of the season, breaking UNC's all-time single-season record. The record of 42 (Natalie Anter, 2002) had stood for 13 years until Taylor Wike tied it as a freshman in 2015. Kristen Brown one-upped her teammate last season with 43 over 57 games, and Delamora broke that mark once again this year, with her 44th walk in just the 49th game of the season. Now with a total of 45, she ranks 14th in the nation, while her average of 0.83 per game (also a UNC record) ranks 21st nationally.
Delamora 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.
Feel The Need For Speed
After breaking the all-time single-season record for stolen bases as a team in 2016, Carolina's baserunners haven't missed a beat. UNC stole 90 bases over 59 games in 1993. That record stood for 23 years until the 2016 Tar Heels overtook it, posting the first-ever 100-steal season with 102 swipes in 126 attempts over 57 games. The 2017 Tar Heels are on pace to break that record, totaling 98 steals over 54 games. They are second only to last season in total steals and attempts, while holding the best per-game average at 1.81 steals per season. To compare, the 2016 Heels stole 1.79 per game and the 1993 Heels had just 1.53 per game.
UNC is second in the ACC and 18th in the nation in total steals, while its 1.81 steals per game are 22nd in the NCAA. Three Heels rank in the top 10 in the ACC as individuals, with Leah Murray leading the conference with 34 on the year–fourth all time at UNC.
The 2016 Tar Heels were the first Carolina squad ever to have more than three Heels with 10-or-more stolen bases, as four players were in double digits including 25+ by Destiny DeBerry and Aquilla Mateen. The 2017 Heels have bested that feat once again, with five different Tar Heels in double digits. In addition to Murray, Taylor Wike has a career-high 18 and DeBerry has 16. Freshmen Hailey Cole and Micaela Abbatine round out the school-record five Heels in double digits with 12 and 10, respectively.
Comeback Kids
North Carolina has been extremely resilient all season long, erasing early deficits with big innings, especially in the fifth and seventh frames. Meanwhile, Carolina's defense has held firm, dropping just a single contest when leading after the fourth, fifth or sixth innings.
The magic began on Feb. 25, when Carolina trailed 6-0 heading into the fifth inning against Miami (Ohio). Carolina scored a run in the fifth and the sixth but still trailed, 7-2, in the seventh. The Heels led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and a double, and a two-run double by Kendra Lynch started the scoring. The Redhawks made a pitching change and got the second out of the inning, but UNC never gave in and the next four batters reached safely for a six-run bottom of the seventh, as UNC walked off with a bases-loaded walk by Taylor Wike, 8-7.
A three-run fifth inning broke a 1-1 tie to give UNC a 5-1 victory over No. 21 Pittsburgh in the series opener. Two days later, Carolina found itself down 7-1 in the middle of the fifth but rallied to plate six runs in the bottom of the fifth and walked off in the bottom of the ninth to complete the series sweep, 8-7.
A run in the top of the seventh broke a 2-2 tie at College of Charleston, then a five-run top of the fifth pushed UNC past Northern Kentucky the following day.
Virginia Tech scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 3-2 lead in game two, but UNC tied the score in the top of the seventh and won it, 4-3, in the eighth.
Carolina trailed 3-1 to Longwood in the bottom of the seventh, but a walk-off three-run homer by Lynch gave UNC a 5-3 victory.
The Heels used another big fifth inning to complete the sweep of Boston College, coming back from down 2-0 to score six runs in the fifth and secure an 8-3 win in the series finale.
UNC is 29-1 on the season when leading after six innings, but has come back to win nine games when tied or trailing after the fourth inning and six games when tied or trailing heading into the seventh.
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 18 games this season, with Kendra Lynch and Brittany Pickett the only individuals to throw a complete game.
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 44 appearances but has made just 24 starts (seven of which turned into shutouts). 13 of Hannah Nommensen's 16 appearances came off the bench, while Sydney Matzko and Kellyn Daly have combined for 18 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 third 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.
Brittany Blanks Opponents
UNC has recorded eight shutout victories this season and Brittany Pickett has pitched in all eight of them. The rookie pitched compete-game shutouts over Purdue (Feb. 18) and NC State (March 24), then hurled a pair of three-hitters two days apart against USC Upstate (April 12) and Boston College (April 14).
She pitched the first six innings at ECU and first five against Chattanooga. Sydney Matzko went the first four innings against Campbell before Pickett earned the save with the final three. All five UNC 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.
Going Streaking
Berlynne Delamora reached base safely in 29 straight games from Feb. 18-March 31. It was 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 player (since 2005) to have reached base in 20-straight games more than once. 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 became the fifth Tar Heel to join the 20-game streak club, reaching safely in exactly 20 games from March 8 to April 14, 2017. Brittany Pickett enters the postseason riding a 19-game streak dating back to March 31.
