Softball Ready To Take On NC State

Thursday, April 2

Raleigh, N.C.

7:00 PM

North Carolina

NC State

Photo by: DALTON WAINSCOTT

April 1, 2026 | Softball

RALEIGH, N.C. – Carolina softball is set for an ACC road series against NC State.

The series starts on Thursday at 7 p.m. with game two on Friday at 5 p.m., and game three on Saturday at 1 p.m.

UNC comes into the game fresh off a win over Liberty. NC State comes into the game after two wins against Syracuse last weekend.

NEWS & NOTES

A WIN/WINS WOULD...
- Be better than a loss
- Be the sixth, seventh, and eighth consecutive win against NC State in Raleigh
- Be the seventh consecutive series win over NC State
EMILY LEGOAT
- Emily LeGette currently leads the ACC in, home runs (18), RBI (60), SLG (1.170), OBP (.583), total bases (110), and sac-flies (6)
- Last season Carlie Myrtle led UNC Softball with 17 home runs in 57 games. The fifth most in a single season in program history. This season Emily LeGette has 18 home runs in 34 games.
- Last season Kat Rodriguez set the program and ACC record for RBI in a single season with 83. Through 34 games she had a stellar 52 RBI. This season Emily LeGette has 60 RBI through 34 games
- Despite being pitched around and walked six times against Cal, LeGette still hit .500 with two home runs and six RBI
- After a career week between Mar. 4-6, Emily LeGette took home four different National Player of the Week honors
- She was named NFCA, Softball America, D1, and Softball on Sports Illustrated Player of the Week after belting five homers, 15 RBI, hitting .615, with a .667 OBP, 1,769 SLG, 2.436 OPS
- She was also named to the NCAA Lineup the Week
- She hit three home runs in game against #16 Virginia including a walk off home run to give UNC its first win over a ranked team in four year
- Coming into the year she had hit just six home runs in her career (58 games), she also had 44 hits in those games and is only four shy of tying that amount in this season alone.
BOOM SQUAD
- The Heels offense has slugged 77 home runs through 34 games which is on pace (114) to shatter the program record of 92 homers in 2015
- Carolina is currently one of two schools to have two players hitting .500 or better with LeGette and Thompson
- Everyone in the Heels normal lineup as at least 7 RBI and all but two are over 20 RBI on the season
- For the second time ever and the first time since 2015, UNC has four hitters with 10 or more home runs
- The Heels hit a home run in 29 consecutive games, the longest streak in the country to this point
- Last season, UNC hit 55 bombs in 57 games
- Every active Tar Heel hitter has at least one RBI and one hit
- 14 of the 17 have at least one home run, only eight Tar Heels hit a home run last season
- The Tar Heels have five walk-off wins (two run rule walk-offs), four of them have been hit by Emily LeGette
- The Tar Heel bats tied a program record with 24 runs against Monmouth
- They followed that up by scoring 20 runs against Bryant
- 44 runs are the most in any two game span in program history
- Over the full week the plated an insane 71 runs
- For the second consecutive season Rayna Blackwell hit the seasons first home run, this time belting a grand slam in the second inning against Elon
SANAA'S A STAR
- Only one player in the entire country has rattled off two separate hit streaks of 13+ games, her name is Sanaa Thompson
- On top of that she has reached base in all but one games this season
- She ranks first in the country with 56 runs scored
- She is currently three runs away from setting the new program record for runs in a single season
- She is third in the nation in hits with 63
- She was ranked the #20 outfielder in the nation by Softball America in February and moved up to #11 in their March rankings
COME ON BARBEE, LET'S GO PARTY
- Shelby Barbee saved her best season for her last
- The fifth year is hitting .443 with a career high 13 home runs, and a 1.023 SLG
- The Heels have hit back to back homer four times this year, Barbee has been a part of three of them
- She has started at third base in all but one game where she moved over to shortstop against Marist
- Softball America named her the #7 third baseman in the nation for March after being #9 in February
CAROLINA BLUE DEBUTS
- Ten different Tar Heels made either their collegiate debut or their UNC debut on opening weekend
- Emily LeGette, Michele Tarpey, Raegan Jennings, MC Eaton, and Sydney Horton all recorded hits in their first weekend as Tar Heels
- Carly Maxton twirled seven innings across two starts earning the win in both games and Kendall Frost threw two scoreless frames across two games
HOME SWEET HOME
- 24 of the Tar Heels first 25 games will be played at home and Carolina won't leave the Tar Heel State until traveling to Cal for the third series of ACC play.
IN COACH SMITH WE TRUST
- In year two under Megan Smith Lyon guided her alma mater back to the NCAA Tournament after inheriting a program that had four consecutive losing seasons before her arrival
- 70 wins in her first two years are just one fewer than the program record for most wins in a head coach's first two seasons
STAR STUDDED TRANSFER CLASS
- The Tar Heels brought in four position players and two pitchers out of the transfer portal
- The hitters have a combined .307 batting average, 39 home runs, 186 RBI, and 55 doubles
- The pitchers thrown a combined 319 innings and have 219 strikeouts and a 4.01 ERA
- Raegan Jennings led national runner up Texas Tech last year with a .398 batting average, racking up 35 hits
- Michele Tarpey led NC State with a .348 batting average last season, her .434 on base percentage was second best on the team
- MC Eaton clubbed 10 homers for Virginia last season while making 55 games
- Emily LeGette hit .328 for Virginia Tech last season with a .366 on base percentage
- Carly Maxton led NC State amongst qualified pitchers in innings pitched (134.1), ERA (3.91), strikeouts (104), complete games (10), wins (11), and saves (1)
- Kendall Frost was All-AAC in her freshman year at ECU, throwing to the tune of a 3.96 ERA with 104 strikeouts over the course of a team-high 166.1 innings. She threw nine complete games