Tar Heels Open 2021 Season with ACC Pod Weekend

Thursday, February 18

Chapel Hill, N.C.

4 PM

North Carolina

Boston College

February 17, 2021 | Softball

Live Stats ACCNX UNC Notes

CHAPEL HILL – Following a weather-canceled opening weekend at South Carolina, North Carolina begins its 45th season in program history at home for the ACC Pod Weekend, hosting Boston College (1-3), Notre Dame (2-1) and Syracuse (0-0) at Anderson Stadium.

Thursday and Friday feature three games with the first beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday's doubleheader vs. Syracuse also begins at 11 a.m. First pitch Sunday is 10 a.m.

Anderson Stadium is not open to the public for the 2021 season. Fans can follow live stats at unclivestats.com. Each of Carolina's games will be broadcast on ACCNX.

Full ACC Pod Schedule at Anderson Stadium
Thursday:
11 a.m. – Syracuse vs. Notre Dame (DH)
4 p.m. – Boston College vs. North Carolina

Friday:
11 a.m. – North Carolina vs. Boston College (DH)
4 p.m. – Syracuse vs. Notre Dame

Saturday:
11 a.m. – Syracuse vs. North Carolina (DH)

Sunday:
10 am. – Syracuse vs. North Carolina

About North Carolina
North Carolina begins its 45th season in program history at South Carolina's Carolina Classic. Head coach Donna J. Papa enters her 36th season at the helm of the Tar Heels who were picked fifth in the preseason ACC coaches poll.

Due to COVID-19, the Tar Heels 2021 schedule has been cut by 10 percent for a total of 50 regular season games. This includes four tournament weekends and eight four-game ACC series beginning March 12 vs. Notre Dame. Additionally, the COVID-19 waiver has allowed for the return of fifth-year seniors Brittany Pickett and Campbell Hutcherson, providing veteran experience for Carolina's infield.

Meet The 2021 Tar Heels
The Tar Heels return 16 letterwinners and welcome seven newcomers to the 2021 squad. Carolina returns four members of its pitching staff led by all-ACC preseason selection and three-time first-team All-ACC selection, Brittany Pickett, and 2019 ACC all-freshmen team honoree, Hannah George. Sophomores Gaby Katz and Alyssa Stanley complete Carolina's staff. Catchers Zoë Goodman, Taylor Puetz and Taylor Greene, transferring from Arksansas, round out the Tar Heels' battery. Carolina returns its entire infield, while adding significant speed from their newcomers.

Prior to the shortened 2020 season, UNC broke its stolen base record for four consecutive seasons to 124. Junior Abby Settlemyre and sophomore Destiny Middleton led Carolina's efforts in 2020 both with double-digit bases. With a majority of lefty batters (14 of 23), the Tar Heels are expected to continue their speedy seasons.

Record watch
Lefty pitcher Brittany Pickett begins her second senior campaign as Carolina's career saves record holder with 12. Pickett also ranks top-10 in 10 additional pitching categories: wins, appearances, starts, complete games, innings pitched, batters faced, shutouts, strikeouts, walk per seven innings and strikeouts per seven innings. Pickett set 10 UNC single-season records in her first three years in Carolina Blue. Senior Campbell Hutcherson sits top-10 in three career categories: fielding percentage, putouts and double plays turned. Redshirt-senior Kristina Burkhardt ranks 10th in sacrifice flies.

Tar Heels selected Fifth ACC Preseason Poll
North Carolina has been picked fifth in the 2021 ACC preseason softball poll, as voted on by the Atlantic Coast Conference head coaches. The Tar Heels earned 96 points in the ACC Preseason Poll. Preseason favorite and winner of the past six ACC Tournaments, Florida State tallied 141 points and nine first-place votes. Virginia Tech was picked second with 136 points and four-first place votes. Notre Dame was tabbed third with 114 points while Duke came in fourth with 99 points – three points ahead of UNC in fifth.

Pickett selected to Preseason all-ACC Team
Senior Brittany Pickett has been named to the preseason all-ACC softball team, as voted on by the Atlantic Coast Conference head coaches. Pickett, a pitcher from Indian Trail, North Carolina, earned all-ACC first team and all-tournament team honors for the third year in a row in 2019. UNC's career saves record holder made five appearances in the circle, striking out 23 in 23.2 innings before a season-ending injury during the second week of the 2020 season. At the plate, Pickett slugged home runs against No. 2 Alabama and No. 11 Michigan. Pickett's three-run home run vs. the Crimson Tide gave UNC a lead in the fourth inning, before scoring the game-winning run in walk-off fashion.

2021 Schedule Outlook
The Tar Heels open the season with four tournament weekends before beginning ACC play March 12. Without midweek contests this spring, ACC weekends will consist of four-game series. Carolina is slated to face five teams ranked in the NFCA's top-25 preseason poll with two more opponents receiving votes. Anderson Stadium is not open to the public for the spring 2021 season.

The Tar Heels begin their 2021 campaign at No. 19 South Carolina's Carolina Classic Feb. 12-14. Joined by Louisville at the tournament, Carolina faces both UNCG and the Gamecocks twice during the weekend. UNC returns home to host Syracuse, Notre Dame and Boston College in the ACC Pod weekend in place of the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Carolina plays a pair of three-game series vs. Boston College and Syracuse.

Next, Carolina travels to No. 8 Alabama for the Crimson Classic Feb. 26-28. UNC faces Troy for a doubleheader Friday and Alabama for a Saturday doubleheader before wrapping up the weekend with a single game against Memphis. The Tar Heels wrap up nonconference play with the Carolina Classic, hosting South Carolina, Elon and UConn at Anderson Stadium March 5-7.

The Tar Heels begin ACC play at home vs. RV Notre Dame March 12-14 before traveling to No. 12 Florida State March 19-21. Carolina hosts Georgia Tech March 26-28 at Anderson Stadium.
UNC begins April at RV Clemson April 1-3 and hosts Virginia at Anderson Stadium April 9-11. Carolina travels to Pittsburgh April 16-18 and No. 25 Duke April 23-25 for back-to-back weekends to wrap up the month. Following a bye-week, Carolina hosts Louisville at Anderson Stadium May 7-9 to wrap up the regular season.

Louisville hosts the 2021 ACC Tournament May 12-15 at Ulmer Stadium. The 2020 NCAA Regionals take place May 21-23. Super Regionals are May 27-30 and the Women's College World Series is June 3-9 at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Up Next
Carolina returns home to host the ACC Pod weekend Feb. 18-21 at Anderson Stadium.

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