RALEIGH, N.C. – Taking a quick break from what has become a tight race to the Big South Conference Tournament, the Presbyterian College softball team will face their last non-con opponent of 2024 this weekend: the Wolfpack of NC State.

Battling the ACC member for the very first time, head coach David Williams' squad will engage in a Saturday doubleheader from the North Carolina capital at 2:00 PM. Following that two-parter tomorrow, the Blue Hose will finish out the series on Sunday at 1:00.

Each contest will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra (or ACCNX), as Presbyterian makes final preparations for their first meeting against an Atlantic Coast Conference school in four years.

As things currently stand, PC finds themselves just one game back of 4^th place in the Big South standings in a year where the division's postseason entries could go a multitude of different directions.

For now, that mindset will be put on hold as the Blue Hose aim for a late-season stunner, beginning a campaign-closing nine-game road streak.

 
GAMEDAY INFO – SATURDAY, APRIL 20
Presbyterian (14-29, 4-8 Big South) at NC State (23-20, 3-14 ACC)
WHERE / WHEN: Dail Softball Stadium (Raleigh, N.C.) | 2:00 & 4:00 PM DH
WATCH (GAME 1): ACCNX
LIVE STATS (GAME 1): Stat Broadcast
WATCH (GAME 2): ACCNX
LIVE STATS (GAME 2): Stat Broadcast

 
GAMEDAY INFO – SUNDAY, APRIL 21
Presbyterian (14-29, 4-8 Big South) at NC State (23-20, 3-14 ACC)
WHERE / WHEN: Dail Softball Stadium (Raleigh, N.C.) | 1:00 PM
WATCH: ACCNX
LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast

 
BLUE HOSE vs. ACC
 
• NC State is the sixth member of the Atlantic Coast Conference to match up with the Blue Hose since PC made the jump to the NCAA's Division I ranks in the late 2000's.
 
• Saturday's doubleheader will end a four-year drought between Presbyterian and ACC opponents, last seen against a member of the ACC on March 10, 2020 (a 5-0 defeat at Clemson in Williams' first season at the helm).
 
• Other ACC institutions that have gone head-to-head with the Scotsmen:
 
- Virginia Tech (2008 & 2018)
- Notre Dame (2013); the first season of the Fighting Irish's conference move
- Florida State (2013)
- Georgia Tech (2018)
 
• The closest encounter between PC and an ACC opponent came on March 3, 2018, a neutral-site bout in Jacksonville against the Hokies. In the final year before Williams arrived in Clinton, Presby accounted for two scores each in the 6^th and 7^th innings only to fall a run shy of the upset (5-4).

 
WOLFPACK BACKSTORY
 
• NC State Softball entered a new era in 2024, ushering in their fourth-ever head coach last summer: Lindsay Leftwich of LSU fame. Spending 12 seasons with the Bayou Bengals, Leftwich led LSU to four College World Series and 166 weeks inside the nation's Top 25 poll.
 
• Taking the reigns of a program that has claimed two ACC Tournament Championships and another Regular Season crown in '06, Leftwich has the Wolfpack at 23-20 during her first year in Raleigh.
 
• While NC State has taken 15 wins on their home turf (Dail Softball Stadium), it's been a bit rougher in ACC play with a conference mark of 3-14. After surviving a late rally to beat Virginia in Charlottesville (10-9) to set up a rubber match, the Wolfpack were defeated by the Cavs in walk-off fashion for the finale, losing 3-2.
 
• NC State has showed out in big-game atmospheres, winning four outings over nationally-ranked opponents (Clemson, Northwestern, Virginia Tech, and South Carolina).

 
UNCHARTED TERRITORY
 
• While Presbyterian has engaged with 14 "Power 5" universities (schools hailing from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, & Pac-12 conferences), this will denote PC's first-ever three-game series against anyone with that distinction as opposed to a one-off or doubleheader.
 
• The Blue Hose have earned one "Power 5" victory in their Division I lifespan, downing the Wisconsin Badgers in the 2013 season-opener. Contested at a neutral site in Charlotte, PC rattled off three runs in the 6^th frame that broke a tie before holding on late for a 5-3 triumph.
 
• On a related note, Williams has proven very successful against schools representing the Big East, a conference that holds a similarly-high level of prestige. PC has defeated three Big East opponents since Williams took over, besting Butler and Georgetown in 2020 as well as a 5-1 decision over Seton Hall in Clinton just last spring.

 
GASOLINE GREENE
 
• During PC's final home series of the season versus arch-rival USC Upstate, fifth-year ace Jenna Greene wrote the final chapter of her extraordinary career in Clinton by becoming the first player in Presbyterian history to reach 700 strikeouts.
 
• One of just eight pitchers in the 37-year history of the Big South to collect at least 700 K's, Greene gathered an average of 147 strikeouts per year over her first four seasons, deciding to return to PC in 2024 as a student of occupational therapy.
 
• Greene ranks second in Big South history with 8.30 K's per seven innings pitched, topping the Presbyterian record book in games started (101), shutouts (21), total wins (56), and ERA (2.48).
 
• She has been selected for Big South Pitcher of the Week on seven occasions (once thus far in 2024), chosen as the league's preseason Pitcher of the Year in the '23 campaign.
 
• Each of the top-five PC single-game strikeout records belong to Greene (including a personal-best 18 as a freshman against Butler), going for at least 11 K's on 14 different dates while wearing a Blue Hose uniform.

 
SENSATIONAL SENIORS
 
• Kaitlyn Tucker, Jillian Hewes, Bailey Watkins, and Kara Starnes were recognized prior to PC's final home series with USC Upstate, a quartet of seniors who have captured 90 wins since arriving on campus in 2021.
 
• Those four have combined for 271 hits, 163 runs scored, 97 RBI, five Big South weekly awards, and two postseason All-Conference selections (Hewes & Tucker).

 
TUCKER = ON-BASE MAGNET
 
• A master of consistency as the squad's two-hole hitter, senior second baseman Kaitlyn Tucker is Presbyterian's number-one leader in career walks (99). Additionally, the North Carolinian possesses another school record by assembling a .434 on-base percentage.
 
• Arguably coach Williams' most dependable infielder over the last four seasons, Tucker has never not started in 170 appearances with the Blue Hose. Since an injury forced her to sit out the last five games of the 2021 trek, she has started 141 consecutive bouts dating back 27 months.
 
• On the defensive end of the field, Tucker has enjoyed her most efficient go-around as a senior by committing a personal-low four errors in 136 chances. That amounts to a fielding clip of .971 for a roster that holds the fewest errors in the Big South, totaling 82 putouts and 50 assists.