Just over two weeks ago, UNC softball announced its slate of fall games, giving the team opportunities to prepare for the upcoming spring season.
The Tar Heels ended their 2020-2021 season with an overall record of 14-26 and a conference record of 10-19. So far this fall, the team has competed at home against ECU and Elon, as the schedule exclusively features teams within the state of North Carolina.
With a win at home versus Elon for their second scrimmage, more boosts of confidence are yet to come both throughout the fall and into the spring.
Sophomore Kiannah Pierce, who was awarded UNC softball’s Rookie of the Year Award last season, noticed the improvements the team made in its two scrimmages so far.
“I'd say like the first to the second scrimmage, we've done a good job of making the adjustments," Pierce said. "Our second scrimmage, obviously, we actually won the game. So we did better. We're really just focusing a lot on hitting the ball consistently."
On Friday, the Tar Heels will be traveling to UNC-Greensboro for their first away game since May, where they lost to North Carolina State in Louisville, KY. during the first round of the ACC Tournament.
While the team may have had a disappointing 0-14 record on the road last season, Pierce said they are feeling confident and able to rise up to the challenges ahead of them.
“We kind of struggled in the previous year, we didn't start the season off as well as we wanted to," Pierce said. "So I feel like I'm just excited to prove to those teams that we’re competition, whether they believe it or not."
One of those challenges is the loss of team leaders Brittany Pickett and Kristina Burkhardt, both of whom graduated last year. Burkhardt demonstrated an outstanding batting average of .333 last season while Pickett currently holds the UNC record for most career saves.
