UNC softball ends season with 7-4 loss to Notre Dame in first round of ACC Tournament

Starting pitcher Kenna Raye Dark held a tissue to her eyes after North Carolina’s first-round ACC Tournament exit on Wednesday.

Young fans, faces reddened from tears, hugged their favorite North Carolina players after a rough sixth inning ended UNC’s season.

No. 10 seed Notre Dame (27-22, 9-15 ACC) trailed for most of the game, even after hitting a pair of solo home runs in the fourth, but five two-out runs in the sixth gave the Irish a lead for good and they beat the Tar Heels, 7-4, at Duke Softball Stadium.

The No. 7 seed Tar Heels (30-20, 10-14 ACC) made two pitching changes but couldn’t come back.

The Irish recorded four hits to tie the game at four. UNC replaced Dark with Talia Hannappel. The first batter she faced, however, reached on an error when Carolina second baseman Skyler Brooks overthrew a ground ball to Carlie Myrtle, allowing two runs to score.

Notre Dame’s Jane Kronenberger went 2-for-4 with a home run. Anna Holloway and Addison Amaral led all batters, going 3-for-4 from the plate. The trio accounted for eight of the Irish’s 12 hits.

“Kenna has been such a great pitcher for us all season. I felt like she gutted it out today, had some really good moments and kept us in it. We just couldn’t slam the door,” said UNC first-year head coach Megan Smith Lyon. “And, that unfortunate mistake defensively; Skyler’s probably our best defensive player. I know she’s disappointed, but she’s a heck of a second baseman. It just didn’t fall our way today.”

Carolina wanted to continue its season, especially for the program’s veterans, but Smith Lyon feels like there’s plenty to build on for the future.

The Tar Heels showed composure in tough spots for the first two-thirds of the contest. They got into an early jam, putting runners on the corners in the first, before forcing routine putouts to end the inning. Lexi Godwin worked back from an 0-2 count in the second frame to draw an RBI walk and give UNC its first run.

Dark contributed two perfect innings in the circle, while freshman Nikki Harris threw 1 1/3 innings and recorded three strikeouts. Smith Lyon called Harris’ outing a bright spot in the loss.

“She had some tough luck during the season and missed quite a bit,” Smith Lyon said. “That was wonderful to see; that we’ve got some young players hungry and ready to get out there and compete.”

The loss, though disappointing, ended a season the Tar Heels can take pride in. Smith Lyon, who played for the Heels from 1996-99, led the team to its first winning season since 2019.

Catcher Autumn Owen and shortstop Abby Settlemyre earned All-ACC second team honors. Outfielder Sanaa Thompson earned a spot on the All-ACC freshman team.

Entering the game, Carolina led the league in batting average (.349) and catcher Isabela Emerling ranked in the national Top 50 for home runs (14). Multiple players had career-best seasons. Smith Lyon said it’s meaningful to see players have their best year, even if the season ended sooner than they hoped.

UNC plans to carry its growth into the offseason and return stronger next spring.

“I’m a Tar Heel and I love the University of North Carolina, so do they,” Smith Lyon said. “Being on this journey with them, knowing that I have been exactly where they are — that I love this place as much as or more than they do — we’re gonna work on this together and fight through this together.”