Feb. 9, 2009

GREENSBORO, N.C. - North Carolina's Danielle Spaulding and Florida State's Kaleigh Rafter have been named the Atlantic Coast Conference Softball Pitcher and Player of the Week, respectively, after several strong performances on the season's opening weekend. UNC's Spaulding pitched 13 innings in a pair of Tar Heel victories while striking out 27 batters and scattering three hits. Rafter led the league in batting in the season's opening weekend with a .556 average.

Spaulding, a junior from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., opened the season with a dominating weekend in the circle to claim ACC Pitcher of the Week honors. In North Carolina's 1-0 victory against FIU, Spaulding pitched 6.0 innings and struck out 14 of the 22 batters she faced. She scattered two hits as she held the Panthers scoreless. On Sunday, Spaulding pitched all seven innings in the Tar Heels' 2-0 win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi. She fanned 13 and only allowed one hit in the shutout victory. Spaulding finished the weekend with 27 strikeouts and a perfect 0.00 ERA. She also held opposing batters to a .073 batting average.

Florida State's Rafter led the Seminoles to the Texas Invitational Championship with an impressive weekend for the Garnet and Gold. The Guelph, Ontario, Canada native hit at a .556 clip to pace the league in batting in the season's opening weekend. She was 10-for-18 at the plate with two doubles and a home run. Rafter started all five games behind the plate for Florida State and did not allow a stolen base in the tournament.

Both teams return to the diamond this weekend. Florida State will visit cross-town rival Florida A&M on Wednesday at 6 p.m. before opening the home schedule on Friday in the Sunshine Classic against Appalachian State at 2:30 p.m. North Carolina will host UNC Wilmington on Wednesday at 4 p.m. before hosting the Carolina Classic, which stats on Friday against Wichita State at 1:30 p.m.