University of North Carolina Athletics
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No. 23 Carolina Takes Two From Virginia
April 1, 2006 | Softball
April 1, 2006
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. --- No. 23 North Carolina improved to 4-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference road games with a pair of wins over Virginia, 3-1 in 12 innings and 13-2, Saturday at The Park. Senior pitcher Crystal Cox won her eighth straight game by pitching all 12 innings and striking out a career-high-tying 15 batters in the opener, and junior catcher Whitney Gelin was 2-for-4 with five RBIs in game two.
The Cavaliers (18-14, 2-6 ACC) and Tar Heels (32-10, 6-2 ACC) got single runs in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively, to set the stage for the extended extra innings in game one. Michelle Salmiery doubled to lead off the fifth for Virginia, and pinch runner Kat Mirras would score one batter later on Erin Horn's RBI single. After allowing two of the four hits that UVa would amass in the entire game to open the frame, Cox (15-5) settled down to retire the side and limit the damage.
Carolina struck back quickly in the sixth. Sophomore first baseman Jennifer Jacobs led off with a single to center. Freshman Lisa Norris then reached on a bunt single, advancing pinch runner Marissa May to second on the play. After a foul out, freshman center fielder Breanna Brown singled up the middle to plate May and tie the score at 1-all. The Tar Heels would get no more, however, as Joslin Higgins and Theresa Nicholas went down on strikes to end the threat.
After allowing the first run of the game in the fifth, Cox was close to perfect the rest of the way. A Sara Larquier infield single in the sixth and a walk to Elea Crockett in the 11th accounted for the only Wahoo baserunners over the final seven innings of the game, and Crockett was quickly erased on a double play flyout to right.
Despite Cox's dominance, the Tar Heels were unable to break through until the 12th. Carolina's best chance to end the stalemate prior to that came in the ninth, when sophomore second baseman Cassie Palmer and sophomore left fielder Ashley Oxendine reached with two outs. But sophomore Casey Testa fanned to end the inning.
After failing to produce a baserunner in the 10th and 11th, UNC finally surged ahead in the 12th. Oxendine got things started with a one-out single, and Testa followed with a single of her own. Jacobs then singled down the right field line to score Oxendine and give the Tar Heels a 2-1 lead. Two batters later, junior Anna Evans singled home Cox, who was running for Testa, to add an insurance run. Cox followed up scoring her second career run by retiring the side in order in the 12th to end Carolina's longest game of 2006.
Game two featured the Tar Heels spotting the Cavs a 2-0 lead before running off 13 unanswered runs. Carolina took the lead for good with a four-run second. After Evans walked and Brown singled, freshman starter Amber Johnson walked to load the bases with one out. Gelin then drove a double to center to score Evans and Brown to tie the score at 2-all. Palmer then followed with a two-run triple to give the Tar Heels a lead they would not relinquish.
UNC added two runs in the fifth on a Jacobs double, and three in the sixth on a bases-loaded pinch-hit double by freshman Emily Troup. Gelin sealed the win in the seventh with her second home run of the season, a three-run shot that scored freshman Alyssa Francona and Norris. An Erin Dudley RBI single ended the scoring and produced the final margin of 13-2.
Norris (11-3) pitched four scoreless innings in relief of Johnson to pick up the win in the circle.
Carolina will go for the series sweep Sunday at 1 p.m.
