Tar Heels Open NCAA Play Friday - ACC OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

May 19, 2005

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Leading off
North Carolina opens NCAA Tournament play Friday in Ann Arbor, Mich., with a 4:30 p.m. game against Seton Hall. Michigan, the top seed in the tournament and the No. 1 team in the country, plays Canisius at 7 p.m. in the other opener of the four-team regional. Double elimination play continues on Saturday and Sunday.
The Tar Heels are 36-27 overall and are making their third consecutive appearance in the field, their fourth in five years. UNC received an at-large berth in the 64-team field. Seton Hall is 33-13 and made the field as the Big East champion. The Pirates are making their third NCAA appearance.

The weekend's schedule
All games at University of Michigan's Alumni Field in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Double elimination format
May 20
Game 1 - No. 2 seed Seton Hall vs. No. 3 seed UNC, 4:30 p.m.
Game 2 - No. 1 seed Michigan vs. No. 4 seed Canisius, 7 p.m.
May 21
Game 3 - Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 1 p.m.
Game 4 - Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 3:30 p.m.
Game 5 - Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner, 6 p.m.
May 22
Game 6 - Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 1 p.m.
Game 7 (if necessary) - Replay of Game 6, 3:30 p.m.

Winner of the Ann Arbor regional advances to the super regional to face the winner of the Lincoln, Neb., regional in a best two-of-three series on May 27-28. Teams playing in the Lincoln, Neb., regional are No. 16 seed Washington, Creighton, Iowa and host Nebraska.

UNC at a glance
2005 record: 36-27 (9-9 ACC)
Head coach: Donna J. Papa (Connecticut, 1979)
Career record: 743-446-4 (22nd season)
Record at UNC: 714-431-4 (20th season)
Assistant head coach: Beverly Smith (North Carolina, 1994)
Assistant coach: Janelle Breneman (Bloomsburg, 1992)
Volunteer assistant coach: Dave Young (Appalachian State, 1995)
Administrative assistant: Dana Sorensen (Stanford, 2004)
Team captains: Ashley Allen, Crystal Cox
Home facility: UNC Softball Complex (Cap. 500)
ACC Championships: One - 2001
NCAA Tournament appearances: Four - 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005

Tar Heel statistical leaders
Batting average: .318, Anna Evans
Runs batted in: 37, Jessica Young
Extra base hits: 16, Jessica Young
Home runs: Three tied at 6 (Anna Evans, Casey Testa, Jessica Young)
Slugging percentage: .504, Casey Testa
Stolen bases: 16, Marissa May
Fielding percentage: 1.000, Jennifer Jacobs
Earned run average: 1.62, Crystal Cox
Innings pitched: 245.2, Crystal Cox
Strikeouts: 304, Crystal Cox

Briefly

The Tar Heels are making their fourth appearance in the NCAA field and their third in a row. UNC is 3-6 all-time in postseason play.

UNC will open this year's NCAA action against the same team that eliminated the Tar Heels in 2004. Seton Hall knocked Carolina out of last year's tournament with a 1-0 loss in a game that went 12 innings.

Michigan has held the No. 1 ranking in both national polls (USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball) since mid-March. None of the other three teams at the Ann Arbor site has been ranked this season.

The Tar Heels are the only team at the Ann Arbor site that reached the field via an at-large bid. Michigan is the Big Ten champion, Seton Hall is the Big East champion and Canisius is the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) champion.

UNC is 0-1 all-time against Seton Hall, 1-5 against Michigan and 3-2 against Canisius.

Carolina senior Jessica Young is the younger sister of Michigan All-America Marissa Young, who played for the Wolverines from 2000-03.

Tar Heel freshman Casey Testa, who holds the team's top slugging percentage (.504), fractured her left ankle in practice in mid-April and has been sidelined since then.

Carolina in the NCAA Tournament
The North Carolina Tar Heels received an at-large bid to the 2005 NCAA Softball Championships and are making their third consecutive appearance and fourth in the last five years. Carolina has an all-time record of 3-6 in three previous trips to the tournament, compiling a 1-2 record each time.
North Carolina's All-Time NCAA Results
2001 (Norman, Okla.)
L: Massachusetts 4, UNC 2
W: UNC 4, Lehigh 0
L: Oklahoma 13, UNC 0 (5 innings)
2003 (Fresno, Calif.)
L: Michigan State 9, UNC 1 (5 innings)
W: UNC 10, Long Island 2 (5 innings)
L: Fresno State 2, UNC 0
2004 (Waco, Texas)
L: Baylor 1, UNC 0 (16 innings)
W: UNC 4, Texas San-Antonio 0
L: Seton Hall 1, UNC 0 (12 innings)

Tar Heels and Pirates meet again
In Waco, Texas, last season, UNC and Seton Hall met in an elimination game for the right to stay alive in the 2004 tournament. In a pitchers' duel that lasted three hours and 14 minutes, Carolina's Crystal Cox and Seton Hall's Megan Meyer carried a scoreless tie into the 12th inning. Seton Hall's Caitlin White singled home Mary Carroll Smith for the game-winner in the bottom of the 12th.

Both of UNC's NCAA Tournament losses last season came in extra innings and both were by a 1-0 score. In the tournament opener, Carolina lost 1-0 to host Baylor in 16 innings.

Scouting the Pirates
Seton Hall heads into NCAA play with a 33-13 record and a five-game winning streak. The Pirates were 15-3 in Big East play this season and claimed the conference title with a 2-1 win over Notre Dame.
Junior outfielder Caitlin White leads the team in batting average (.352) and stolen bases (18 in 21 attempts). Also batting above .300 are junior shortstop Katie Pierce (.336), senior second baseman D'arcy Djakolovic (.310) and senior first baseman/catcher Laura Taylor (.310). Taylor, the Big Ten Player of the Year, leads the team in home runs with 12 and in RBIs with 40.
Senior Megan Meyer is Seton Hall's top pitcher, with a 26-5 record and an ERA of 0.91. Opponents are batting 1.77 against her this season. Pirates coach Ray Vander May is in his ninth season with the program.

The Pirates are 12-0 this season in games decided by one run and 8-0 in extra-inning games.

Seton Hall, located in South Orange, N.J., is making its third NCAA appearance and sharing a site with UNC for the third time. In addition to last year's meeting in Waco, the Tar Heels and Pirates both played in Norman, Okla., in 2001, but did not meet.

Wolverines no strangers, either
Carolina also has a recent history with the host and top-seeded Michigan Wolverines. The two teams met earlier this season at the Kia Klassic in Fullerton, Calif., with Michigan taking a 5-0 victory on March 18.
UNC led off the game with back-to-back hits and had runners on first and third with no one out, but failed to score. Michigan then got on a board with an unearned run in the bottom of the first. In the second inning, UNC put two runners on base with one out but again couldn't bring a runner home. In the third, Carolina got a pair of two-out singles before rain halted the game for 21 minutes. After play resumed, the Tar Heels were held hitless for the rest of the game while the Wolverines added four runs, one in the fifth and three in the sixth.
Carolina finished with five hits and two errors, while the Wolverines scored five runs on six hits with no errors. Nicole Motycka earned the win for Michigan, while Lorilyn Wilson pitched four and a third no-hit innings in relief. Crystal Cox took the loss for UNC and Ashley Allen finished off the final two outs.

This season's Michigan team is ranked No. 1 in the nation and is 55-4 heading into its 13th NCAA appearance. The Wolverines are making their 11th tournament appearance in a row and are the No. 1 seed for the first time.

Senior shortstop Jessica Merchant leads the team with a .398 batting average, an .807 slugging percentage and 19 home runs. Michigan's team batting average is .327. The squad boasts a pair of outstanding pitchers in junior Jennie Ritter (28-1, 0.97 ERA) and sophomore Lorilyn Wilson (22-2, 0.90 ERA).
The Wolverines are coach by Carol Hutchings, who is in her 21st season with the program.

And a bit on the Golden Griffins
Canisius, the fourth team in the Ann Arbor regional, is 22-17 on the season and making its eighth NCAA appearance. The Golden Griffins won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title to claim a bid.
Senior first baseman Beth Enk leads the team in batting with a .336 average and a .618 slugging percentage. Freshman outfielder Jenny Maheu is hitting .328 and three other players are above .300. Senior pitcher Andrea Bunten was the MAAC Pitcher of the Year and the conference tournament Most Outstanding Player.
Canisius, located in Buffalo, N.Y., is coached by Mike Rappl, who is in his 26th season with the team.

Schedule has Tar Heels prepared for NCAA play
Carolina has taken on some of the nation's toughest teams this season. The Tar Heels' 2005 slate is ranked the 39th-hardest in Division I, and the team ended the regular season ranked No. 46 in the RPI. Carolina played 23 games against 13 NCAA Tournament teams with a record of 7-16.

UNC's 2005 record against the NCAA field: Baylor (0-1), DePaul (1-0), Louisiana Lafayette (0-1), Alabama (0-1), Florida State (1-2), Georgia Tech (1-2), Cal State Fullerton (0-1), Fresno State (0-1), Michigan (0-1), Penn State (0-2), California (0-2), College of Charleston (2-0), Virginia Tech (2-2)