A brand-new head coach, fresh faces and without its star pitcher from last season โ the UNC softball team faced each of these challenges ahead of its 2024 opener on Friday, Feb. 9 against North Carolina A&T.
Those challenges didn’t affect the Tar Heels for long, as they capped off a perfect, 4-0 opening weekend in the Winthrop Tournament with a tight, 3-1 victory over Winthrop University on Saturday afternoon.
Though an electric offense was easy to point out for North Carolina, which totaled 37 runs over the weekend, it was UNC’s opening game on Friday afternoon that stood out the most.
Tar Heels starting pitcher Britton Rogers, who transferred from UGA in the offseason, threw the first perfect game in Chapel Hill since 2011.
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Britton makes her Tar Heel debut by throwing the ninth perfect game in school history and first since 2011 in a five-inning shutout of NC A&T!#GoHeels pic.twitter.com/57ltLcqCLU
— Carolina Softball (@UNCSoftball) February 9, 2024
Rogers achieved perfection in just five innings, as UNC needed just five innings to dispatch the Aggies. She struck out eight batters, including every A&T starter but second baseman Alyxx Estrada.
Rogers received a much-needed rest in Game 2 of the tournament, as teammate Bailey McCachren pitched seven innings of 2-hit ball. In Game 4 of the tournament, though, Rogers turned right around and recorded her second win in two days.
Not a bad weekend for a first-time Tar Heel,
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