It's been quite some time since a member of the UNC softball program earned All-American honors.
The last time it happened was in 2017, a year in which Kendra Lynch set the North Carolina single-season RBI record. Fittingly, the student-athlete who demolished her record, Kat Rodriguez, becomes the latest UNC softball player to earn All-American honors.
The Pembroke Pines, Florida native earned D1Softball First Team All-America Honors. Not only was she one of the best players in the ACC, but ranks among the best in all of the country.
Rodriguez made history this season in multiple ways. She became the first player to win ACC Player of the Week honors four times in a single season. Her 83 runs batted in crushed the previous UNC softball single-season program record and also tied the ACC single-season mark, as she drove in the most runs by any player in the country.
She hit an astounding .435 on the season, the fourth-highest single-season average by a Tar Heel. Only one UNC softball player scored more runs in an individual season, as her hits (77) and total bases (119) recorded during the 2025 season put her in the top 10 in both categories in the UNC softball single-season record books.
Rodriguez also ranked in the top 10 among ACC qualifiers in the following categories:
Batting Average
Runs Batted In (RBIs)
Hits
Doubles
On Base Percentage (OBP)
Sacrifice Flies
Total Bases
Needless to say, Kat Rodriguez got the job done offensively and then some!
Rodriguez is now the 11th UNC softball player to earn All-American Honors, becoming just the fourth Tar Heel to earn first-team accolades. The graduate student etched her name into the program's record books, as her lone season in Chapel Hill turned out to be quite the historic one.