North Carolina
17-3
Kent State
5-14
Dark Throws First Career No-Hitter As Softball Sweeps Doubleheader
March 2, 2025 | Softball
UNC has become 'No-Hitter U' this season, now becoming the only school in the country to have three different pitchers twirl a no-hitter.
But before the Kenna Raye Dark masterclass, there was a game against Kent State in which the UNC bats stayed hot en route to a 15-6 win.
Kat Rodriguez did what she's done all season and drove in a run in the first, followed by Carlie Myrtle driving in a second to go up 2-0 early.
After Kent State scored one in the top of the second, UNC would rattle off the next seven runs, taking a 9-1 lead by the end of the third inning behind an Alex Coleman RBI single, Rodriguez two-RBI single, Sanaa Thompson single, Myrtle single, Kiannah Pierce double, and another Coleman single.
A four-run top of the fourth made it a 9-5 game, but Shelby Barbee would provide some padding with a two run bomb to push the lead to 11-5.
Kent State wouldn't go away though, plating another in the fifth. The bottom half is where Myrtle decided to end things, smacking the third UNC grand slam of the weekend to end the game in a run rule walk off. The senior finished the game with six RBI.
Then game two happened… Kenna Raye Dark did what she's done all season, only this time she one upped herself. Dark went 4.1 perfect before a runner reached on a dropped third strike. She struck out four in her first career no-hitter. She also did it on under 50 pitches.
The game ended in five because once again, the Tar Heel bats went to work.
Four came across in the first inning after a sacrifice fly, fielders choice, hit by pitch, and another sacrifice fly. In the second, Thompson drove in a run then Pierce scored two with a single to right to make it a 7-0 ball game. The scoring parade continued in the third when Grace Jackson came across on a wild pitch and Coleman scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Rodriguez. In the fourth, Carlie Myrtle put an exclamation point on the weekend for the offense sending her fourth home run of the weekend over the scoreboard in left-center field.
UNC is back in action this coming week with a home game against Michigan on Tuesday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Livengood, Jil (1-0)
L: JOHNSON, Ella (1-3)
Batting:
2B: ROBESON, Delaney 1
HR: JOHNSON, Leilani 1
RBI: MOERY, Katie Jo 1 ; JOHNSON, Leilani 4 ; MARKUSIC, Kasey 1
SH: UTENDORF, Kam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: PENNER, Carley 1 ; WING, Savannah 1 ; NOGAY, Aaralyn 1 ; LEITNER, Kendal 2 ; JOHNSON, Leilani 1
Batting:
2B: Kat Rodriguez 1 ; Carlie Myrtle 1 ; Pierce, Kiannah 1
HR: Carlie Myrtle 1 ; Barbee, Shelby 1
RBI: Jennings, Raegan 2 ; Kat Rodriguez 3 ; Thompson, Sanaa 1 ; Carlie Myrtle 6 ; Pierce, Kiannah 1 ; Barbee, Shelby 2
SF: Thompson, Sanaa 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jennings, Raegan 1 ; Roberts, Lexie 2 ; Kat Rodriguez 3 ; Thompson, Sanaa 2 ; Carlie Myrtle 2 ; Pierce, Kiannah 1 ; Barbee, Shelby 1 ; Burns, Bryten 1 ; Outlaw, Reece 1 ; Horton, Sydney 1
SB: Jennings, Raegan 1 ; Roberts, Lexie 2 ; Kat Rodriguez 1 ; Thompson, Sanaa 1 ; Burns, Bryten 1 ; Outlaw, Reece 1
HBP: Blackwell, Rayna 1
