North Carolina State University Athletics
Softball Hosts UNC for Crucial Senior Weekend Showdown
4/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
RALEIGH, N.C. - As if the rivalry wasn’t enough, major ACC implications will be on the line this weekend as NC State hosts No. 22 North Carolina for three games at the Walnut Creek Softball Complex in Raleigh. The Pack and Tar Heels will meet at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 21, before wrapping up the pivotal league stand at 12 p.m. on Sunday, April 22. The Pack enters the series at 36-16 (10-5), while UNC comes to Raleigh at 41-12 (10-4 ACC). Live stats will be available on GoPack.com. Admission is free for all games.
All nine of the Pack’s departing seniors will be recognized before first pitch on Sunday, as well as the North Carolina seniors.
The Pack stands as the No. 3 squad in the conference, while the Tar Heels hold steady at No. 2. A single game separates the arch rivals in the league standings.
With a sweep of Campbell this past Thursday the Pack set a new school record for consecutive wins with 12-straight, topping its old benchmark of 11 coming throughout late March and early April of 2004, the program’s inaugural season. After falling 8-0 in five innings at Virginia Tech on April 1, State has been unbeatable. Since the Pack's last defeat, Jen Chamberlin has become the all-time career home run leader in ACC history. Additionally, Abbie Sims has tossed two no-hitters, including a perfect game, while eclipsing 1,000 career strikeouts.
The Tar Heels are no strangers to winning streaks either. Earlier this season UNC reeled off 28 in a row, the longest win streak in school history, as well as the longest winning streak in the country this year.
State leads the all-time series between the two programs, 8-2. The Pack dropped the second of two games the first time that the two rivals faced off in 2004, but have won the last six meetings. The Tar Heels last topped the Wolfpack, 3-0, in the second game of the 2005 three-game stand, which NC State won two games to one.
Following this weekend's bout, NC State will get a few days off as exams begin on campus. Next weekend, however, the Pack will wrap up its regular season with a final ACC contest at Maryland in College Park, Md. The Pack and Terps will square off for two games on Saturday, April 28, at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., before the wrap-up bout at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 29.
