Tar Heels Win Season Opener Against Butler, Shut Out Louisville

Saturday, February 10

Longwood, Fla.

11:00 AM

North Carolina

1-0

Butler

0-3

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Butler	0	0	3	1	0	0	0	4	8	1
North Carolina	3	0	0	2	0	2	X	7	12	1

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
North Carolina	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	4	1
Louisville	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1

Tar Heels Win Season Opener Against Butler, Shut Out Louisville

February 10, 2018 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

LONGWOOD, Fla. – Opening the 2018 campaign at the UCF Friends of Jaclyn Tournament, North Carolina topped Butler, 7-4, and ACC foe Louisville, 2-0, for an undefeated start to the season, Saturday afternoon at Soldiers Creek Park.

GAME ONE – vs. Butler: W, 7-4

In the 2018 season opener, the Tar Heels struck early with three runs in the first inning against Butler and reclaimed the lead in the fourth thanks to a Brittany Pickett home run in route to a 7-4 win over the Bulldogs.

Pickett led the Tar Heels' offense, going 3-for-4 at the plate while Kiani Ramsey and Leah Murray each tacked on a pair of hits.

To open the 2018 season, Leah Murray led off for the Tar Heels with a hard hit ball to short stop for the first hit before stealing second. Sierra Parkinson and runner Micaela Abbatine stole simultaneously to reach home and second, respectively. After back-to-back singles by Katie Bailiff and Kiani Ramsey, North Carolina jumped to a three-run lead in the first inning.

After two scoreless frames, Butler tied up the game in the third before a trio of singles in the fourth gave the Bulldogs a one-run lead. The Bulldogs took the lead briefly in the top of the fourth inning on Madi Christiansen's sacrifice fly to right field. However, the Tar Heels answered right back with a leadoff single by Murray before Brittany Pickett cleared the bases with a home run to center for the 5-4 edge.

North Carolina picked back up in the sixth inning with hits by Parkinson and Taylor Wike before Pickett's RBI-single added one more on the board, totaling three RBIs in game one. Katie Bailiff drove in one more on a sacrifice bunt, finalizing the Tar Heels' score at seven.

Katie Grace Olinger made her career debut in the circle with a pair of strikeouts in the first inning with a final total of five in 3.0 complete innings. Pickett earned the win in 4.0 with six strikeouts.

Freshmen Sierra Parkinson and Megan Dray each drew a walk in their collegiate debuts with Parkinson also recording a hit and stealing home.

GAME TWO – vs. Louisville: W, 2-0

The Tar Heels and Cardinals traded hits throughout the first three innings, each putting runners in scoring position. However, Carolina prevailed putting up a pair of runs in the fourth to ultimately earn the shutout victory.

Murray logged her second multi-hit game of the day while Wike and Dray each logged a hit.

In the fourth inning, Murray logged her fourth hit of the day with a single to the pitcher before coming around to second on an error. Pickett drew a four-pitch RBI-walk to put the Tar Heels on the board before a wild pitch allowed Parkinson to score.

The Cardinals threatened early on, but solid defense by the Tar Heels held them off. Ramsey ended the second frame with a diving play in left-center to hold off Louisville.

Giving up a mere four hits, Pickett went the distance for her second win of the day and her first complete game of 2018. Louisville's Megan Hensley took the loss in 4.1 innings.

The Tar Heels wrap up the UCF Friends of Jaclyn Tournament Sunday morning at Soldiers Creek Park, taking on Providence College at 9:30 a.m. and host UCF at noon.

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