North Carolina Hosts ACC/Big Ten Challenge

CHAPEL HILL – The Tar Heels open their home slate by hosting the ACC/Big Ten Challenge for the fourth consecutive season Friday through Sunday at Anderson Stadium. Carolina returns home with a 2-2 record at the PV College Challenge with a pair of wins against perennial NCAA Regional foes in BYU and No. 9 South Carolina.

Due to the weather forecast, there was a change to the original schedule. North Carolina will play a doubleheader Friday vs. No. 17 Michigan at 4 p.m. and Northwestern at 6:30 p.m. Carolina takes on Northwestern Saturday at 3 p.m. and wraps up the tournament against Michigan Sunday at 12:30 p.m. Fans can watch games this weekend on the ACC Network extra and follow live stats at UNClivestats.com. Please visit the tournament central page for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge for any updates, results and links.

Carolina Hosts Fourth Annual ACC/Big ten Challenge
North Carolina hosts the ACC/Big Ten Challenge at Anderson Stadium for the fourth consecutive season since 2016. The Tar Heels own a 7-5 overall record from the past three seasons. In the first season, Carolina split against both Northwestern and Illinois. The Tar Heels topped Purdue twice and Ohio State in 2017. Most recently, Carolina defeated Wisconsin and Illinois in the first meeting, before falling in the final two games of the weekend. The ACC leads the overall series, 59-45. The ACC came out on top in 2017 and 2018.

¡Adiós Puerto Vallarta!
Knocking off their first ranked team in two seasons, the Tar Heels wrapped up opening weekend at 2-2 with wins over perennial NCAA Regional contender and West Coast Conference Champion, BYU and 2018 Super Regional host, No. 9 South Carolina. The Tar Heels came from behind to top the Cougars, 5-4 on Saturday. UNC's momentum continued into Sunday as Carolina shutout the Gamecocks, 4-0 with sac-fly by Kiani Ramsey and a three-run dinger by freshman Hannah George. Carolina nearly topped No. 18 Baylor, but the Bears outlasted UNC, 10-9, in a 10-inning season opener - UNC's longest opening day game in program history (by innings). The Tar Heels faced No. 3 Washington for their second game of the day, beginning at 11:35 p.m. local time. Despite a Zoë Goodman RBI-single in the first inning, the 2018 WCWS runner-ups took a commanding lead to end the game in five, 9-1.
» Carolina scored in the first inning of every game at the PV College Challenge.
» Three freshmen earned their first career starts (Hannah George, Kiersten Licea, Abby Settlemyre).
» Each pitcher saw time in the circle this weekend. Pickett threw a complete game shutout over South Carolina.
» Carolina's 15 hits vs. Baylor ties the 2018 single-game high (28, 2018 vs. Winthrop).
» Leah Murray stole three bases to tie the second most in career history at 81.

Burkhardt, Murray PV All-tournament Team
Redshirt-sophomore Kristina Burkhardt and senior Leah Murray garnered Puerto Vallarta College Challenge all-tournament team honors for their efforts this weekend. Murray led the Tar Heels offensively with a .545 average, scoring six runs as Carolina's leadoff hitter. She extended her hitting streak from last season to seven games. Burkhardt anchored the lineup as the No. 3 hitter, driving in six runs on a trip and home run. Defensively, the outfielder capped off the weekend with a web-gem diving play in right-center and turned a double play to clinch the win over No. 9 South Carolina.

Ranking the Win over South Carolina
UNC's 4-0 win over No. 9 South Carolina on Feb. 10 at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge was the Tar Heels' first top 10 win since April 6, 2016 and first neutral site ranked win since Feb. 15, 2014. It was also the first time UNC shut out a ranked opponent since Mar. 1, 2013.

Record Watch
Senior Leah Murray is tied for second in program history with 81 stolen bases. Murray stole three on opening day to tie Christine Knauer's mark. Tiffany Tolleson holds the record with 102. Fellow senior Destiny DeBerry ranks seventh with 65 stolen bases. In the circle, Brittany Pickett's name can be found eight times with her highest ranking of third with eight career saves. Lisa Norris holds the record at 11.

Pickett Ranked No. 91 by Softball America
Brittany Pickett was ranked No. 91 on Softball America's 2019 Top 100. Pickett, a preseason all-ACC selection, garnered all-ACC first team and all-tournament team honors for the second consecutive year in 2018. Pickett anchored Carolina's pitching staff last season, making 37 starts and appearing in 51 of 55 games. She also hit .313, slugging a team-best .663 with 13 hits for extra bases. The junior led the nation with 299.2 innings pitched and shutout her opponents 10 times to lead the ACC and rank 14th nationally. Pickett led the ACC in appearances, ranking second in the nation.

Up Next
UNC travels back to the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic for the second consecutive season for five games Thursday through Saturday in Cathedral City, California.

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Players Mentioned

Kristina Burkhardt

Destiny DeBerry

Hannah George

Zoë Goodman

Kiersten Licea

Leah Murray

Brittany Pickett

Kiani Ramsey

Abby Settlemyre

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