Roundup: UNC, NC State advance to ACC softball semis

BLACKSBURG, Va. North Carolina won its ACC softball championship quarterfinal game in unlikely fashion.

The second-seeded Tar Heels beat seventh-seeded Virginia Tech 3-2 Thursday night, with the winning run scoring from third base when Hokies pitcher Maggie Tyler was called for an illegal pitch with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

UNC (36-13) advanced to Friday’s 3:30 p.m. semifinal game against the winner of Thursday night’s final quarterfinal game between third-seeded Notre Dame and sixth-seeded Pitt.

Also Thursday, four Tar Heels were named to the All-ACC Team. Junior Kristen Brown and freshman Taylor Wike made the first team, and seniors Amber Parrish and Lauren Walker were selected to the second team.

N.C. State: Senior Emily Weiman, who earlier in the day was named to the All-ACC First Team, broke the school’s single-season record for strikeouts with 290, and the Wolfpack defeated Louisville 3-2 in Blacksburg to advance to the semifinals.

The Wolfpack (35-19), winners of nine consecutive games, plays top-seeded Florida State at 1 p.m. Friday.

Louisville fell to 30-17.

Weiman struck out six Cardinals to break Abbie Sims’ record (289).

Senior Renada Davis also was selected to the first team. Sophomore Tyler Ross was named to the second team.

Davis becomes the first player in N.C. State history to collect All-ACC honors in each of her four years with the program, claiming three first-team mentions and one second-team nod. Davis leads the team in hitting (.380) and hits (63).

Davis has 12 home runs this season and on April 27 broke the ACC career record for homers with her 62nd.

Duke: The sixth-ranked women lead the South Bend (Ind.) Regional after the first round. They shot par 288, led by junior Celine Boutier, who shot a season-best five-under 67.

St. Aug’s: Immanuel Hutchinson (800 meters) and Daniel Jamieson (200) posted wins on the final day of the Duke Twilight outdoor meet.

N.C. State: The men’s team plays Tulsa at 3 p.m. Friday in Fort Worth, Texas, in the opening round of the NCAA championship. The Wolfpack is 17-11. Tulsa, making its 10th straight championship appearance, is 17-12. The winner advances to a second-round match Saturday against the winner of Marist-TCU.

Campbell: The Camels (28-20) step outside of Big South this weekend, hosting No. 23 California (29-15) in a three-game series at Jim Perry Stadium. The first game is at 6 p.m. Friday; a doubleheader scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday.

The series marks Campbell’s first time hosting a Pac-12 program, playing its first and only Pac-12 opponent since Stanford in a 1990 NCAA regional.

This story was originally published May 7, 2015 at 9:36 PM with the headline "Roundup: UNC, NC State advance to ACC softball semis."