University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Maine
Johnson K's 13 As Tar Heels Win 7-1
March 14, 2008 | Softball
March 14, 2008
HONOLULU - Amber Johnson struck out a career-high 13 batters and catcher Brittany connected on a pair of home runs to lead North Carolina past Maine 7-1 on Thursday at the Hawai'i Spring Fling Invitational. The Tar Heels smashed out 13 hits on the day en route to their seven runs as Carolina improves to 21-6 on the year. Texas Tech and Hawai'i will be the Tar Heels' opponents on Friday.
Carolina got on the board early and often as the Tar Heels pushed two runs across in the top of the first. Three consecutive hits put the two runs on the board with Breanna Brown leading the way with a single back up the middle. The speedy centerfielder would swipe second and move to third on a single by Christine Knauer back to the pitcher. Brown would score the opening run and Knauer would follow her on a bases clearing double from Cassie Palmer that found the left center gap. Jennifer Jacobs would follow with a single to right field which Palmer attempted to score on but was cut down at the plate despite an acrobatic slide to avoid the tag.
The bottom of the order provided two more runs in the top of the second when Whitney Allen beat out an infield single and scored on the very next play when freshman Brittany McKinney connected a home run down the left field line to put Carolina ahead 4-0. A throwing error on the shortstop and a wild pitch pushed across two more runs in the top of the third for a 6-0 Carolina advantage. McKinney would connect on her second long ball of the day in the top of the fifth when she hit a rocket to dead center to give her battery-mate, Amber Johnson, a 7-0 lead to work with.
Johnson would not need more than the one run in the first as she was simply dominant, the junior right-hander set the side down in order in the first and forced a groundout to open the second. The Kristen Allen groundout would be the only ball put in play by Maine for nearly the rest of the day as Johnson rattled off 10 consecutive strikeouts. The junior was flirting with a no-hitter before a single back up the middle with two outs in the fifth broke up the no-hit bid. However, Johnson would finish her outing in style as she struck out the final batter she faced to tie a career high, that was set less than a week ago against Lafayette, with 13 strikeouts.
Faith Sutton would come on to close the door for Carolina as she allowed just one run in her two innings of work. The Tar Heels will play two games on Friday in the Spring Fling Invitational as they take on Texas Tech at 2 p.m. (HT) and host Hawai`i at 6 p.m. (HT).
