North Carolina State University Athletics
Softball Rekindles Rivalry with No. 15 Tar Heels
4/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
RALEIGH, N.C. - It’s that time of the season. NC State softball will make the short trek to nearby Chapel Hill to take on rival North Carolina in a three-game ACC set this weekend. The Wolfpack and Tar Heels will meet twice on Saturday, April 19, beginning at 1 p.m., before closing out the series on Sunday, April 20, at 1 p.m. Live stats for all three games will be available via GoPack.com, while ACC Select will offer live streaming of the entire series.
Heading into its fifth year, NC State leads the all-time series 11-2. A year ago in Raleigh the Pack swept a three-game series as UNC failed to score a single run. Both programs split the first four meetings, but State has reeled off nine-straight since.
State (27-20, 8-7 ACC) enters the weekend tied for third place in the conference with Florida State. The Pack has played well as of late, collecting wins in eight of its last 10 contests, and contributions have come from every which way; offense, defense and pitching. Lindsay Campana (16-13) has picked up wins in her last six decisions, including the Pack’s last three games, while reigning ACC Co-Player of the week Shanna Smith leads the team in batting average (.347), at-bats (147), hits (51), home runs (11), total bases (95), walks (30), stolen bases (22) and on-base percentage (.458).
UNC, winners of five-straight, stand at first-place in the league with a 42-8-1 (13-1 ACC) record. The Tar Heels lone conference loss came in its ACC opener at Florida State, 2-0. Since then, North Carolina has been basically flawless in league action aside from a handful of one-run games against Maryland.
The Tar Heels have arguably its most complete team in recent memory, featuring the league’s best statistical offense and a potent one-two-three pitching rotation of Lisa Norris (15-3, 0.91 ERA, 131.1 IP), Danielle Spaulding (12-2, 1.08 ERA, 90.1 IP) and Amber Johnson (11-1, 1.12 ERA, 75.1 IP). UNC is batting .311 as a team, with Breanna Brown (.377) and Cassie Palmer (.333) leading the way. Brown has 63 hits, tops in the ACC, while Palmer has 15 doubles and 36 RBIs.
Wolfpack head coach Lisa Navas is certainly no stranger to North Carolina and head coach Donna J. Papa, having spent two years as her assistant in Chapel Hill from 2001-02. In fact, North Carolina’s only ACC title in program history came while Navas was on staff in 2001. During her tenure at UNC, the Tar Heels had one All-America, eight All-ACC honorees and three all-region players.
