University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Virginia
Winning Streak Reaches 20, Heels Sweep Cavaliers
March 18, 2007 | Softball
March 18, 2007
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. --- North Carolina ran its school-record unbeaten streak to 20 games and completed a sweep in its first series of Atlantic Coast Conference play Sunday afternoon at Anderson Stadium, using 10-2 and 9-0 run-rule victories to easily dispatch of the Virginia Cavaliers . The wins came on the heels of UNC's 3-1 victory Saturday afternoon in the series opener.
A huge, nine-run fourth inning keyed the Tar Heels (27-6, 3-0 ACC) in the early game, while Carolina pitcher Lisa Norris stymied Virginia (8-19, 0-3 ACC) for just one hit in picking up her third complete game shutout of the season in game two. UNC exploded for 15 hits in the second game after putting up 10 in the first game as the bats broke out in a big way.
Just like in Saturday's game, the Cavalier offense was firing in the leadoff frame of game one, helping stake Virginia to an early lead. The Cavaliers struck for four hits off Tar Heel starter Amber Johnson in the inning and took advantage of a defensive miscue by Carolina, plating two runs to surge to a 2-0 advantage.
Virginia pitcher Nicole Koren limited UNC for the first three innings, facing the minimum her first time through the lineup. But that changed in a big way in the fourth. An error to start the bottom half put leadoff batter Cassie Palmer on, and Breanna Brown followed with a bunt single. Alert baserunning allowed both Palmer and Brown to advance an extra base on the play, putting them in scoring position for designated player Casey Testa, who collected her first two RBI of the season, depositing a ball in shallow right field to tie the game 2-2. One batter later, Whitney Allen gave the Tar Heels their first lead of the game with a single that brought home pinch-runner Marissa May.
Carolina went on to load the bases in the frame, chasing Koren in the process, but Cavalier relief pitchers Karla Wilburn - and later Coty Tolar - were no more effective as UNC opened the floodgates to score six more runs in the inning. Testa continued her big return to the lineup, picking up two more RBI with a double down the leftfield line, scoring Palmer and Brown for the second time in the inning. When the dust finally settled, UNC had plated nine runs on nine hits and took a 9-2 lead into the fifth.
Johnson kept Virginia off the scoreboard in the top half, giving Carolina a chance to finish things off early. The Tar Heels took advantage as Allen drew a leadoff walk, Anna Evans followed with a base hit to centerfield, and Joslin Higgins worked the count to four balls to load the bases with no outs. One batter later, Erin Dudley hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield, scoring Evans, and the game ended due to the eight-run rule with the score 10-2 in favor of UNC.
After her struggles in the first, Johnson had little trouble the rest of the way, scattering eight hits in her five innings of work in picking up her 11th win of the season. She struck out seven and gave up just one earned run. Koren (0-4) took the loss for Virginia.
Game two lacked the fourth-inning fireworks that broke the first game open, but Carolina again used the frame to put up its first scoring of the contest. Koren - just as she did in the early game - kept the Tar Heels largely under wraps for the first three innings of game two before Testa jumpstarted things for the Heels with a base hit to lead off the bottom of the fourth. One batter later, Evans followed with a single of her own to plate May, who had come in to pinch-run for Testa. Evans would eventually come around herself, scoring on a wild pitch to push UNC's lead to 2-0.
The Tar Heels strung together four consecutive hits in the fifth but managed just one run out of it, extending their advantage to three. Brown got the offense started and pinch-hitter Stephanie Murad and first baseman Jennifer Jacobs each followed with base knocks to load the bases. Anna Evans added her second RBI in as many innings with a single through the right side to cap the hit string, with Brown scoring on the play.
Things broke open in the sixth as UNC posted six runs on five hits to close out the sweep in exciting fashion. Evans gave the win added punctuation with her third hit of the day, a two-run walkoff shot to centerfield - her second round-trip blast of the season. Ashley Oxendine also picked up two RBI in the frame, ripping a double to the gap in left center that scored Emily Troup and Ciara Rimoldi.
For the game, Evans went 3-4 with four RBI and two runs scored. Testa, Troup, and Oxendine each contributed two hits apiece as well for the Tar Heels. Norris pitched six innings, giving up the lone Virginia hit in the fourth and walking just one in facing one batter over the minimum for the game. With the win, her record now sits at 16-6 on the year.
The Tar Heels will next face UNC-Wilmington in a Wednesday doubleheader starting at 4 p.m. Both games will be available online via ACC select.
