GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) softball team will begin the 2021 NCAA Tournament in the Athens Regional against No. 13 Duke Friday at Noon Eastern Time at Jack Turner Stadium on the University of Georgia's campus.
Joining the Spartans and Blue Devils will be Western Kentucky and host Georgia.
The four-team, three-day event features UNCG (34-15) facing Atlantic Coast Conference tournament champion Duke (42-10) at Noon on Friday on the ACC Network before host Georgia (29-20) takes on Western Kentucky (31-13) at 2:30 p.m. CT Friday on ESPN3.
"It was awesome to see our name on the screen," UNCG redshirt junior Makenna Matthijs said. "We've worked hard for this moment so just to see that was exciting. For me personally, my class has been to Georgia before so it's a familiar place. I went there my freshman year so being able to be in that atmosphere with big crowds will be good for the younger girls."
Friday's winners will square off in the first of three games Saturday, while Friday's losing teams will face off in an elimination game for game two of Saturday's tripleheader. The loser of Saturday's first game will take on the winner of the day's second game in an elimination game later Saturday night.
The winner of Saturday's final game will meet the winner of the day's first game on Sunday with an if necessary rematch scheduled for later on Sunday.
Winners of eight straight and 16 of its last 17 contests, UNCG will make its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2018 when it competed in the South Carolina regional. The NCAA regional appearance will be the third in program history as the 1997 squad, which won the Big South, also competed in the South Carolina regional.
The Spartans earned the Southern Conference's automatic bid after defeating Western Carolina, 9-4, in the SoCon championship game on Saturday behind a tournament single-game record six home runs.
UNCG has hit a single-season program and SoCon record 89 home runs this season. The Spartans have homered in 38 games including eight straight contests. UNCG has hit at least four home runs in a game nine times with a season-best six in three different outings.
Sophomore Maycin Brown was named the Southern Conference Tournament's Most Outstanding Player after hitting .500 with two home runs. Sophomore pitcher Morgan Scott won three games for the Spartans in the circle during the tournament to raise her season total to 20. Scott, who was named the SoCon Pitcher and Freshman of the Year, has 200 strikeouts.
Matthijs led the SoCon in runs (44), hits (60), and RBIs (43) and was second in batting average (.361) and home runs (13).
In the latest national statistics, which are games through May 13, UNCG is third in walks (205), seventh in home runs per game (1.70), 16th in slugging percentage (.545), 17th in scoring (6.38), 21st in on-base percentage (.399), 22nd in doubles (72), and 32nd in doubles per game (1.53)
The winner of this weekend's regional will advance to the NCAA Super Regional round against the winner of the Gainesville regional, hosted by No. 4 seed Florida, the following weekend with the ultimate goal of reaching the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.