University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Coastal Carolina
Spaulding, Jacobs Power No. 23 Tar Heels To Two Wins
April 12, 2007 | Softball
April 12, 2007
CONWAY, S.C. --- No. 23 North Carolina moved to 40-10 on the season with a pair of wins Thursday against Coast Carolina, taking an eight-inning, 4-2 decision in the first game of the doubleheader before closing the twin bill with an 8-0 run-rule victory in the nightcap. Coastal Carolina fell to 15-26 overall with the two losses.
Jennifer Jacobs came up big in extra-innings in the first contest, collecting what proved to be the game-winning hit with a double down the right field line to score Breanna Brown, who was placed at second to start the eighth inning per the international tiebreaker rule. That made the score 3-2 Tar Heels, and an RBI single up the middle from Emily Troup later in the inning brought Jacobs around to score, pushing the UNC advantage to two. That would be all Carolina starter Amber Johnson would need as she pushed her record to 13-3 with a scoreless, 1-2-3 bottom half to secure the victory.
Johnson pitched the entire game, fanning 10 Chanticleers in her eight innings of work. She gave up two runs on six hits and a walk.
Carolina took a 1-0 lead in the third inning to start the scoring thanks to an RBI double to right field from Casey Testa.
The game remained that way until the top of the sixth when a Stephanie Murad double plated UNC's second run, giving the Tar Heels a two-run lead heading into the final frame.
But Coastal refused to go quietly. Kimberly Cillis hit a solo home run with one out in the bottom of the seventh, and the Chanticleers received a two-out RBI single from Carla Hood to tie the game at 2-2, sending the game to extra innings. But Jacobs and Troup ensured that Carolina responded quickly in its next at-bat, propelling UNC to the win.
In game two, the Tar Heels struck for one run in the first and three more in the second inning to establish a 4-0 lead.
Danielle Spaulding led off the second with a double down the left field line. Erin Dudley walked to put two on, and two batters later, a two-out double from Brown scored two to make the lead 3-0 Carolina. A Testa single brought Brown home for the final tally in the frame.
A big fourth inning from UNC finished off the Chanticleers. Carolina added four more runs off three hits to push the lead to 8-0, holding on through the final two Coastal Carolina at-bats for the win. UNC loaded the bases with no outs and Anna Evans drew an RBI walk to plate Carolina's fifth run. An RBI groundout from Murad, followed by back-to-back run-scoring singles from Spaulding and Dudley gave UNC the final eight-run cushion.
Spaulding finished the game 3-for-3 with one double, two singles and one RBI. She also picked up her fourth win of the season, giving up just four hits and striking out eight in her first career complete game shutout.
Carolina will next play this weekend in a crucial Atlantic Coast Conference series against Virginia Tech - a match-up of the top two teams in the league standings. The weekend tilt starts Saturday with the first game of a doubleheader going off at 1 p.m.
