University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Maryland
No. 22 Tar Heels Sweep Terps For Series Win
April 8, 2007 | Softball
April 8, 2007
COLLEGE PARK, MD. --- No. 22 North Carolina rode 4-0 and 7-2 wins to a doubleheader sweep of Maryland Sunday at Robert E. Taylor Stadium, claiming their fourth straight Atlantic Coast Conference series win - and second in a row on the road - in the process. The Tar Heels (38-10, 10-2 ACC) overcame a Saturday setback to top the Terrapins (22-15, 4-5 ACC) in the weekend series and stay atop the league standings.
In the nightcap, Anna Evans hit two home runs to power UNC to the win, recording four RBI in posting the second multi-home run game of her career. Evans is one of just seven players in school history to have ever hit two home runs in a game. Jennifer Jacobs and Cassie Palmer both accomplished the feat earlier this season against East Carolina and Charlotte, respectively.
In the first game, Danielle Spaulding and Amber Johnson starred in combining for the shutout. Spaulding pitching 5 2/3 scoreless innings to pick up her third win - against zero losses - on the season. She allowed just three hits while striking out five Terrapin batters. Johnson came on in relief to collect her first save this year, working 1 1/3 innings and escaping two critical jams for UNC.
After two quick outs to start game one, the Tar Heels manufactured some offense in a hurry to take a 2-0 advantage in the top of the first. Casey Testa fought off a Meredith Nelles pitch to shallow left field for a single and Jennifer Jacobs followed by rocking a two-run shot well over the right field fence to emphatically give Carolina the first lead of the game for the second straight day.
This time Carolina wasted little time in adding to its total, using a Cassie Palmer solo jack to straightaway center to plate its third run in the top of the third inning. Breanna Brown followed with a single up the middle and Testa deposited her second hit of the day to give the Tar Heels three straight hits to open the inning. Jacobs earned a walk to load the bases and chase Nelles from the game, but Abbey Welch came on in relief to get three consecutive outs for Maryland, keeping the score 3-0 in favor of the Tar Heels.
UNC's Spaulding kept the Terrapins under wraps through the first three frames before Maryland threatened in the fourth. The Terps loaded the bases via a hit and two walks, but Spaulding got Alex Schultz to swing and miss at a 2-2 pitch to close out the inning without any damage.
Two straight errors to start the top of the fifth helped Carolina add another run as Lisa Norris came through with a pinch-hit RBI double to score Cassie Palmer. UNC looked poised to add more in the frame, but both Brown and Norris were tagged out trying to score from third on separate plays, and the game went to the bottom half with the Tar Heels up 4-0.
Maryland put two runners on with two outs in the sixth, forcing Spaulding's exit and bringing Johnson on in relief. A balk from Johnson moved the runners to second and third, but an inning-ending flyout to centerfield shut the door on the attempted Terrapin rally.
But Maryland mounted another furious attempt in its last at-bat, loading the bases with one out to bring the tying run to the plate. Johnson responded by inducing a pop-out and a foul-out, though, and UNC took game one 4-0.
Jacobs and Palmer both had big offensive games for Carolina. Jacobs finished 1-for-1 with two walks and added two RBI to her team-leading total. Palmer was the only Tar Heel with a multi-hit game in the first contest, going 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Game two began with a familiar theme for the weekend series: Carolina scoring in the first frame to claim the lead - just as it had done in the first two games. This time, though, UNC exploded for five runs to start things off, using three hits and a Terrapin error to set the tone early. Stephanie Murad came up big in the inning, collecting a two-RBI base hit with two outs to score Jacobs and Ashley Oxendine. Anna Evans followed with a drive to dead center that hit the top of the fence and bounced over, giving her a three-run homer and the Tar Heels a 5-0 lead they took to the bottom half.
The score stayed that way until the bottom of the third, when Maryland leftfielder Jennifer Wellborn sent a two-run home run to right field, cutting the Tar Heel lead to three. The Terrapins added a wind-aided single in the frame, but Norris responded with two straight strikeouts to limit the damage to just two runs.
Emily Troup helped get one of those back single-handedly in the fourth for the Tar Heels, launching a bomb that cleared the net behind the centerfield fence to make the score 6-2.
Evans' second round-tripper of the game - and fifth of the season - came in the sixth. Her shot to left field increased UNC's lead to five, where Norris made sure it stayed in the final two frames. Norris bounced back from her first loss in 19 decisions on Saturday to compile her 23rd win of the season, striking out seven Terrapins and allowing seven hits in her 20th complete game of the season.
The Tar Heels will hit the road Wednesday to square off against Coastal Carolina in a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m.
