Tar Heels Travel West for Six-Game Road Trip

Tuesday, February 20

Columbia, S.C.

6 PM

North Carolina

South Carolina

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

February 19, 2018 | Softball

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CHAPEL HILL – After hosting the ACC/Big Ten Challenge for the third year, the Tar Heels begin their six-game road trip at South Carolina Tuesday before heading west to the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic Thursday through Saturday in Cathedral City, California.

Most recently, Carolina went 2-2 at home, topping both Wisconsin and Illinois once to improve to 5-4 on the season. Taylor Wike and Megan Dray each homered in the tournament while Brittany Pickett anchored the Tar Heels' pitching staff, throwing 20 strikeouts in 26.0 innings last week.

Carolina owns a 29-67 record against this week's opponents. Playing the 63rd game in the series vs. South Carolina, the Gamecocks have won 48, but the Tar Heels won the most recent meeting in 2017, 7-3. The Tar Heels are undefeated against Liberty but are winless versus national powerhouses Arizona and Oklahoma. Missouri and UNC are tied 2-2 overall with the Tigers winning the two most recent meetings. California owns a 6-2 edge in the overall series; however, UNC won the matchup, 4-1 in 2017.

Tar Heels Tested in Week Three
Three weeks into the 2018 season, Carolina begins arguably its toughest week of the year. The Tar Heels travel to South Carolina, taking on the Gamecocks on Tuesday in Columbia. Less than one day later, the team travels to Cathedral City, California to face four NCAA tournament teams, including two-time defending WCWS Champion Oklahoma. The lone team who did not make the Tournament in 2017, Liberty, advanced to the finals of the inaugural National Invitational Softball Championship.

Carolina Splits Third Annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge
North Carolina hosted the ACC/Big Ten Challenge the past two seasons, beginning in 2016. The Tar Heels own a 6-6 overall record. Carolina posted a 2-2 record during the annual challenge, going 1-1 against each opponent. In the first season, Carolina split 1-1 against both Northwestern and Illinois. The Tar Heels faced the same outcome versus Ohio State and Purdue in 2017. Most recently, Carolina topped Wisconsin and Illinois in the first meeting, before falling in the final two games of the weekend. The ACC leads the overall series, 59-45. The ACC came out on top in 2017 and 2018.

Up next, the Tar Heels return home for a midweek matchup versus Hampton on Wednesday, February 28 at 4 p.m. before hosting the Carolina Classic March 2-4 at Anderson Stadium.

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