University of North Carolina Athletics
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Kansas
No. 20 Tar Heels Take Two At Cathedral City Classic
February 19, 2009 | Softball
Feb. 19, 2009
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. - Lisa Norris struck out 13 in Carolina's Cathedral City Classic against Kansas only to be outdone by Danielle Spaulding who struck out 16 against Oregon as Carolina opened the tournament Thursday with a pair of wins. Norris and the Tar Heels held on for a 5-2 win in the opener thanks to a pair of doubles by Brittany McKinney. Spaulding equaled a career high with her 16 strikeouts against Oregon as she extended her scoreless innings streak to 37 to open the year. Carolina will take on Cal State Fullerton at 5:30 p.m. PT on Friday on the second day of competition in Cathedral City, Calif.
Carolina got on the board early as the Tar Heels pushed across three runs in the bottom of the first. Christine Knauer led off the game by reaching on an error by the shortstop and then proceeded to steal her ninth base of the season putting her in scoring position. After a ground out, Danielle Spaulding ripped a single to right center to score Knauer and give Carolina a 1-0 lead. Brittany McKinney made it 2-0 in a hurry as she ripped a double down the left field line scoring Whitney Allen who pinch ran for Spaulding. Anna Roberts made it another RBI double when she took a pitch down the left field line to score McKinney and give Norris a 3-0 lead to work with.
The Tar Heels tacked on another run in the fifth when Breanna Brown hit a shot in the hole to the left side that scored Kelsey Green from third and put Carolina ahead 4-0. Kansas got two back in the top of the sixth without recording a hit. The Jayhawks took advantage of a pair of Carolina errors and two walks to cut the deficit in half at 4-2. McKinney led off the bottom half of the sixth with another double before making her way to third and scoring on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Norris. The Snellville, Ga., native would then set down the Jayhawks in order to claim the 5-2 win and improve her record to 5-2.
Spaulding took the circle for the Tar Heels second game of the day and continued Norris' dominance as she kept the Oregon bats in check all day long. The teams battled to a scoreless tie through the first two innings before the Tar Heel bats came to life in the bottom of the third with another big inning. Kelli Wheeler started things off with an infield single to the shortstop and moved to second on a throwing error before Brittany Robinson dropped down a picture perfect sacrifice bunt to move Wheeler to third. Following a walk to pinch hitter Ally Blake the Tar Heel bats really came to life as Breanna Brown drove a pitch into the left center field gap that scored both Blake and Wheeler and put Carolina in front 2-0. The lead would jump to three after Danielle Spaulding lifted a pitch into right center to score Brown and give herself some cushion in the circle.
Spaulding was a strikeout machine once again as she recorded all three outs in the first through third innings via strikeout. The Tar Heel left-hander did find herself in a little trouble in the third when Oregon put a pair of runners on. The Ducks put a runner on first when Knauer was unable to handle a ball at short and then an infield bunt single was the first real threat against Spaulding. The junior got the next batter on strikes to end the inning and the threat.
After the three-run third both teams were held in check the rest of the way as Spaulding continued her dominant performance and Oregon's Samantha Skillingstad was just as good for the Ducks. Spaulding finished the day with 16 strikeouts, which matched a career high and also extended her season-opening scoreless streak to 38.0 innings.
With the win head coach Donna J. Papa now sits just one win away from number 900 for her career. Papa is 899-502-5 in her career and 870-491-5 in her 24 years at Carolina. The Tar Heels take on Cal State Fullerton at 5:30 p.m. PT on Friday in the Cathedral City Classic.
