The UNC softball team swept a doubleheader against North Carolina Central at Anderson Stadium Thursday, improving the Tar Heels to 11-0 in 2026. It’s the best start to a season in program history.

Carolina’s red-hot start has come thanks to a powerful offense, one which scored a combined 23 runs in the two games against the Eagles Thursday. But that wasn’t even close to matching the team’s best scoring output this season. In a pair of games against Monmouth and Bryant in Chapel Hill on Feb. 14, the Tar Heels scored a combined 44 runs (24 in the first game, 20 in the second).

That offensive explosion has been matched by dominant pitching. UNC hasn’t allowed a run in its last six games. Lilly Parrish, the Tar Heel starting pitcher for the second game of Thursday’s doubleheader, threw the 59th no-hitter in program history to lead Carolina to the win. It’s the program’s fifth no-hitter in head coach Megan Smith Lyon’s three seasons in charge.

Smith Lyon’s program is coming off a 40-win season in 2025, one which saw the Tar Heels qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. Smith Lyon is a UNC alumna, having played for head coach Donna Papa in the late 1990s. She coached at Western Carolina, Kansas and Marshall before coming to Chapel Hill.

Through 11 games this season, UNC currently has three players batting at least .500. Junior infielder Emily LeGette, who transferred to Carolina from Virginia Tech in the offseason, leads the way with a .615 batting average and a 1.905 OPS (on base percentage + slugging percentage). She leads the team in home runs (five, tied with Shelby Barbee), RBIs (21) and total bases (33, tied with Sanaa Thompson). In the circle, Carly Maxton’s 0.97 earned run average across 21.2 innings is the best on the team among qualified pitchers.

Carolina is set to host more games at Anderson Stadium this weekend. The Tar Heels will face Rider and App State in a Friday doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m., then will host Princeton Saturday and Rider again Sunday. ACC play begins Friday, Feb. 27 when Carolina hosts Boston College.

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Dalton Wainscott

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