University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
George Washington
Softball Opens Season On The Road At The Carolina Classic
February 10, 2022 | Softball
CHAPEL HILL – The Carolina softball team opens the 2022 season this Friday on the road at the Carolina Classic, a three-day tournament hosted by the University of South Carolina.
Carolina kicks off the season on Friday with a 1 p.m. matchup with George Washington. The Tar Heels then face Lipscomb at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. Carolina wraps up the weekend with a doubleheader on Sunday, first facing Virginia at 1 p.m., before going up against host South Carolina at 3:30 p.m.
The 2022 squad is team No. 46 in program history.
Follow the Tar Heels
- Sunday's game against the Gamecocks is the only UNC game of the weekend that will be streamed. It will air on SECN+.
- Live stat links for each game can be found on the softball schedule at GoHeels.com
- Follow @UNCSoftball for live in-game updates
Virginia
- Carolina leads the all-time series, 93-35-1
- The Tar Heels and Cavaliers last met for a three-game series in Chapel Hill in 2021. Carolina took the series 2-1
- Virginia was picked to finish tenth in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season
- Carolina trails the all-time series, 16-50
- The Tar Heels and Gamecocks met twice last season, with Carolina taking a 3-0 win in the first matchup on March 6 and the Gamecocks earning an 8-1 win over the Tar Heels on March 7
- Carolina's victory over the then-No. 17 Gamecocks was its sole ranked victory of 2021
- South Carolina was picked to finish No. 13 in the Southeastern Conference this season
- Carolina leads the all-time series, 2-1
- The Tar Heels and the Bison last met on March 11, 2020, in Nashville, in what would be the last game UNC played in the COVID-19 shortened season. Lipscomb defeated Carolina 12-2 in five innings
- Lipscomb was picked to finish No. 6 in the ASUN conference
- Carolina leads the all-time series, 2-1
- The Tar Heels and Colonials last met on Feb. 28, 2019, in Chapel Hill. George Washington earned a 7-0 victory in the matchup
- George Washington is the preseason favorite to win the Atlantic-10 Conference
The 2022 Tar Heels
The 2022 Carolina softball team is made up of 27 players, which includes eight freshmen, three transfers and 16 returners.
The Tar Heels return four of their top-five hitters from 2021: Kiannah Pierce, Bri Stubbs, Kiersten Licea and Taylor Greene.
Apart from senior Hannah George, Carolina has an entirely new pitching staff for the 2022 season. The Heels added transfers Kianna Jones (Minnesota), Talia Hannappel (New Mexico) and freshmen Carlie Myrtle and Lilli Backes to do work in the circle.
The Tar Heels also added Sara Jubas, an experienced graduate transfer shortstop who helped lead James Madison to the program's first Women's College World Series appearance in 2021.
In addition to Myrtle and Backes, Carolina's talented freshman class also includes Regan Weisner, Alex Brown, Shelby Sykora, Chloe Gary, Annie Kate Dalton and Isabela Emerling.
Carolina was picked by the league coaches to finish No. 8 in the ACC.
Season 37
Carolina head coach Donna J. Papa is going into season No. 37 at the helm of the Tar Heels, the team she took over in 1985. Papa has a 1290-749 (.632) record at UNC and currently has the third-most most career-wins of any active coach in the NCAA.
The Coaching Connection
Coach Papa will face a familiar face on Sunday against the Gamecocks. South Carolina head coach Beverly Smith was a standout player for Papa at Carolina from 1991-94, becoming the first Tar Heel to earn ACC Player of the Year honors in 1994.
Smith also served as an assistant and associate coach for her former head coach from 1999-2004 and from 2004-2010.
Looking Ahead
Carolina has one of the toughest schedules in this country this season.
UNC is scheduled to play 22 games at Anderson Softball Stadium, highlighted by four ACC home series.
The full-season slate features 13 teams who played in the 2021 NCAA Tournament (George Washington, Missouri, Georgia, Michigan, Villanova, Oregon, UNCG, Liberty, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Campbell, Florida State, Notre Dame) and eight teams who finished in the top 25 (Florida State, Georgia, Missouri, Virginia Tech, Oregon, Clemson, Michigan, Liberty).
Opponents Florida State, Missouri, Georgia, Virginia Tech, Michigan, Oregon and Liberty enter the 2022 season ranked in the Top-25.
Up Next
Carolina will travel up the road to Elon for a Feb. 16 4 p.m. midweek matchup at Elon.
Stay up to date with Carolina Softball by following the Tar Heels on Twitter and Instagram.
