Softball Hosts Mizuno Showdown

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Carolina softball hosts one final regular season tournament this weekend with Saint Joseph's, Kent State, and Harvard coming to town for the Mizuno Showdown.

UNC comes in riding a four-game win-streak and winners of 10 of its last 11 games with a perfect 9-0 record at home

NEWS & NOTES
WINS WOULD...
- Be better than a losses

PILE ON EARLY AND OFTEN
- The Tar Heels offense gets to work fast, outscoring teams 24-6 in the first inning
- In the first three innings, Carolina is outscoring
opponents a staggering 69-18

WE MUST PROTECT CHAPEL HILL
- The Heels have been dominant at Anderson Softball Stadium this season, starting the year 9-0 at home
- Through nine games, Carolina hitters are slashing .410/.502/.595 and have pushed 78 runs across
- Pitching has been just as dominant. Throwing to the tune of a 0.53 ERA with a perfect game, no-hitter, and three other complete game shutouts
- Outscoring teams 78-7 at home, five of the nine games have ended early by run rule

LET CHEF KRD COOK
- In nine starts this season, Kenna Raye Dark has a 6-1 record with five complete game shutouts and six complete games
- She has more complete game shutouts by herself than 304 of the 309 D1 teams
- She has more complete games than 242 entire teams
- She has more strikeouts than 149 teams
- Her 52 strikeouts rank second in the ACC this season and is 17th best in the nation

NIKKI SAYS NO-NO
- On Feb. 23 Nikki Harris through the 57th no-hitter in program history in the 11-0 win over Wagner
- She faced the minimum after Rayna Blackwell threw a would-be base stealer out in the first inning
- Harris struck out four en route to her first career no-no

PITCHING RULES EVERYTHING AROUND ME
- Over the past weekend UNC pitchers threw a no-hitter and two more complete game shutouts
- It is the first time the Heels have strung together three consecutive shutouts since April 4-9, 2019 when they had four in a row

KIWI'S COMEBACK
- After battling through numerous injuries and being hit by a car, Kiwi Pierce is back on the softball field in Carolina blue
- In her first at bat back in the season opener, she picked up a single, going right back up the middle
- She had a six RBI game against Wagner on Feb. 23, clearing the bases twice with two doubles
- She ranks fourth on the team in average, hitting .378 and tied for the third most RBI with 14 so far this season

BRITTON'S PERFECT HOME OPENER
- On Feb. 13 Britton Rogers threw the 10th perfect game in program history
- She became only the second Tar Heel to throw multiple perfect games (2/9/24) joining Virginia Augusta (4 perfect games, 11 no hitters)
- She struck out eight Drexel hitters in the five inning 8-0 win
- Both of Rogers perfect games were five inning, eight strikeouts performances as well as her first starts of the seasons

KAT GOES KRAZY
- In six games last week, Kat Rodriguez broke out for 12 RBI on 10 hits
- Rodriguez slashed an insane .526/.591/.737 in 19 at bats without striking out
- She also worked two walks and was hit by a pitch
- The Pembroke Pines, Fla. native now leads the Tar Heels in batting average (.457), hits (16), RBI (17), doubles (7), and total bases (23)
- Her efforts on the week won her ACC Player of the Week on 2.18

WEEKEND DOMINATION IN ALL FACETS
- Carolina rolled in the Tar Heel Invitational, outscoring opponents 45-5 across five games
- Friday's 16-1 win over Drexel was the second day in a row that the Tar Heel offense put 16 runs on the board
- 40 runs in a three game span are the most since
Carolina scored 51 in three games against Virginia and Georgia March 28-April 1, 2015
- Tar Heel pitching was equally as dominant, throwing to the tune of a 0.97 ERA with two shutouts, allowing just five runs all weekend

BATS GO TO THE BEACH... BUT DON'T RELAX
- Carolina exploded for 16 runs and 18 hits against Coastal Carolina
- It was the most runs scored since Feb. 27, 2024 against NC Central and the most runs since Feb. 15, 2024 against Kentucky
- Carlie Myrtle led the way with four hits and five RBI
- In her first start of the season, Raeghan Carlson was a triple away from the cycle to go along with two RBI

NEWCOMERS POP OFF IN CAROLINA BLUE DEBUT
- In the season opener against App St newcomers accounted for all eight RBI
- Kat Rodriguez led the way with four RBI, followed by Rayna Blackwell who hit two homers for three RBI, then Shelby Barbee had one
- Grace Jackson accounted for three runs
- After one weekend, a newcomer leads in 12 offensive categories

2025 PRIMER
- Megan Smith Lyon enters her second season as the leader of her alma mater
- In her first season at the helm the Tar Heels went 30-20 and 10-14 in ACC play
- The Tar Heels roster has a lot of new faces with 12
returners and 14 newcomers to the roster (7 transfers/7 freshmen)

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT
- Freshman Lilly Parrish was named to both the D100 Freshman Watch List and the Softball America Freshman Watch List
- Parrish was a top-20 ranked recruit who is considered one of the top two-way freshman in the country
- Ella Fox was also named to the Softball America Watch List

SPECIAL NUMBER 3
- Alex Coleman wears #3 because it was the same number head coach Megan Smith Lyon wore when she played at Carolina
- At Marshall Coleman wore #4, but switched to three once she got to Carolina
- Coleman and Smith Lyon also played for the same club softball organization the Carolina Cardinals

SISTERS TOGETHER AGAIN
- Junior Caroline Fox is joined on the 2025 roster by her little sister Ella Fox
- The Fox sisters are two of seven siblings, they have three sisters and two brothers
- Head Coach Megan Smith Lyon is quoted as saying ""If you ask anybody on our team who works the hardest, who does everything the right way all the time, they'll all say Ella, Always."

CAROLINA FEEL TO IT
- 43 of Carolina's 55 games take place in either North Carolina or South Carolina
-The Tar Heels only leave the Carolina's for three weekends (Tiger Invitational @ Auburn, Syracuse, Notre Dame)
- 34 games will take place at home in Anderson
Stadium

LEGACY LEGACY LEGACY
- Britton Rogers is the daughter of Courtney Blades-Rogers, one of the most accomplished pitchers in NCAA history. She completed her career with 1,773 strikeouts (fifth in NCAA history), ranks second all-time with 215 wins, and holds the record for 52 victories in a season among many other pitching accomplishments from her Southern Miss career

OUR LEADER
- Head coach Megan Smith Lyon played for UNC head coach Donna J. Papa from 1996-1999 and served as team captain in her senior season. She still ranks sixth in career assists (380) and was named the team's Most Outstanding Defensive Player in 1999. She also joined her former head coaches' staff as an assistant in 2004. Smith's hometown is Walkertown, a little over an hour's drive to Chapel Hill

FAMILIAR FACE ON STAFF
- Assistant coach Kiwi Mateen James, a former UNC softball player (2013-2016) is married to former UNC basketball player Joel James and they have two
children, a son, Ziggy, and a daughter, Zorah
- Coach Kiwi was inducted into the Jordan-Matthews High School Hall of Fame on Jan. 24, 2025

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Shelby Barbee

Rayna Blackwell

Raeghan Carlson

Alex Coleman

Kenna Raye Dark

Caroline Fox

Ella Fox

Nikki Harris

Grace Jackson

Carlie Myrtle

Lilly Parrish

Kat Rodriguez

Britton Rogers