Softball Sweeps Weekend Series At NC State

RALEIGH, N.C. - The Carolina softball team (23-25, 11-9 ACC) earned its first conference series sweep since 2019 on Sunday, taking both games of the doubleheader over NC State.

The Tar Heels took game one, 4-2, before earning a come-from-behind 5-3 victory in game two. Carolina opened the series with a 5-4 win on Friday.

Kiersten Licea went 4-of-5 at the plate on the day, hitting three home runs and combining for a team-best four RBIs. It is the first time the fifth-year player has ever hit two home runs in the same game.

Alex Brown had Carolina's fourth home run of the day, but she hit an inside-the-park home run, the Tar Heels' first since 2010, that scored three.

As a staff, Carolina's pitchers tallied 17 strikeouts, with Lilli Backes earning her seventh straight win and first career save. Carlie Myrtle recorded her first win of the season and first since April 20, 2022 in the series finale.

The Tar Heels, who have won eight of their last nine games, went 4-0 on the week, including a 5-1 midweek victory over Campbell on Wednesday.

NOTABLES:

Kiersten Licea hit a team-best .625 against NC State, going 5-of-8 at the plate with three home runs, five RBIs, three runs and two walks. She's hit four home runs in her last four games
Lilli Backes went 2-0 on the weekend and earned her first career save in the final game of the series. In the 13 innings she pitched against NC State, she tallied 20 strikeouts while allowing just four earned runs and two walks
As a staff, the Carolina pitchers had 28 strikeouts against the Wolfpack
Alex Brown's inside the park home run was the first for Carolina since Christine Knauer hit one against St. Joseph's on Feb. 19, 2010
Brown extended her hitting streak to 12. She now also has a team-best 18 multi-hit games
With 11 home runs on the season, Kiersten Licea has hit the most home runs since Brittany Pickett (12) in 2017. Licea also has more home runs in 2023 than her first four seasons combined
As a team, Carolina has hit 32 home runs, the most since the 2018 season
This is Carolina's first three-game conference series sweep since going 3-0 against Virginia in April of 2019
The Tar Heels have now won three straight conference series (NC State: 3-0, Syracuse: 2-1, Pitt: 2-0)

Up next, Carolina hosts Charlotte on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Anderson Stadium.

Stay up to date with Carolina Softball by following the Tar Heels on Twitter and Instagram.

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Players Mentioned

Lilli Backes

Alex Brown

Kiersten Licea

Carlie Myrtle

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