Tar Heels Drop Regular-Season Finale, 6-2, at No. 2 FSU

Sunday, April 30

Tallahassee, Fla.

12:00 PM

North Carolina

36-18, 14-9

Florida State

47-3-1, 24-0

North Carolina

Florida State

April 30, 2017 | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: UNC Athletic Communications

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
North Carolina (36-18, 14-9)	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	3	1
#2 Florida State (47-3-1, 24-0)	0	0	2	2	0	2	-	6	7	1

Tallahassee, Fla. – North Carolina softball dropped the final game of the regular season on Sunday afternoon, falling 6-2 to No. 2 Florida State. With the win, the Seminoles completed a perfect 24-0 ACC campaign and improved to 47-3-1 on the year, while Carolina's regular season comes to an end at 36-18 (14-9 ACC).

Leadoff batter Leah Murray singled, walked, stole a base and scored both of UNC's runs in the game. Kendra Lynch hit an RBI single in the top of the first, going 1-for-3 on the day, while Campbell Hutcherson's seventh-inning single represented UNC's third and final base hit. Brittany Pickett walked twice in the game, extending her reached-base streak to 19 straight games.

Pickett (20-7) went the distance for the Tar Heels, allowing four earned runs on seven hits and a season-high four walks with one strikeout over six innings. Jessica Burroughs (23-2) allowed two runs, one earned, on two hits and two walks with nine strikeouts over the first 6.2 innings. Cassidy Davis retired the final batter of the game after issuing a walk and a single.

Jessica Warren and Alex Powers provided the majority of FSU's offense, combining for five hits, three runs and two RBIs.

The only school ever to go undefeated in ACC play, the second-ranked Seminoles completed the first undefeated ACC season since the conference expansion of 2005. It is the fifth time that FSU has not lost an ACC game, but the last perfect season was back in 2003, when the Seminoles went 8-0 to finish atop a five-team field. FSU combined for a total of 24 wins over their previous four undefeated campaigns, matching the 24-0 slate of 2017.

The Tar Heels attacked Burroughs early, as Murray led off the game with a single to center. Taylor Wike bunted her over to second, then Lynch sent her home with an RBI single through the right side.

Back-to-back doubles put Seminoles in scoring position with one out in the bottom of the third. Cali Harrod went for the squeeze but bunted the ball right back to Pickett. However, Pickett's throw home was off target and got away from Katie Bailiff as both Jessica Warren and Alex Powers came around to score unearned runs to give FSU a 2-1 lead.

Pickett issued back-to-back walks to the bottom of the order in the fourth, the first time all season that the rookie hurler allowed two walks in an inning, and RBI singles up the middle by Ellie Cooper and Powers sent them both across the plate to make it 4-1 Florida State.

Murray drew a one-out walk and stole second in the top of the sixth. Lynch grounded one up the middle that took a tough hop of Harrod at short, and Murray came around to score to cut the deficit to 4-2.

The Seminoles got the run back and more in the bottom of the sixth, as Korina Rosario led off with a triple to left field, and Lauren Harris drove her home with a sacrifice fly. Jessica Warren then drilled her 19th home run of the season to left center to make it 6-2 FSU heading into the final half inning.

With two outs in the top of the seventh, the Seminoles gave their seniors a curtain call, replacing all four in the lineup, including bringing in Cassidy Davis to pitch. Davis issued a walk to Pickett then Hutcherson singled up the middle to put two runners on with two outs. However, the freshman got pinch hitter Micaela Abbatine to ground out to short to end the game to finish off the perfect ACC campaign.

The Tar Heels will take a break to focus on final exams before returning to Anderson Stadium on Thursday, May 11, for the Quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament. UNC has clinched a top-four seed for the conference tournament, with their finish to be determined by the outcome of Boston College and Louisville's final series next weekend. Tickets to the tournament, hosted by UNC on May 11-13, are on sale now. Click here to purchase.