University of North Carolina Athletics
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No. 24 Carolina Finishes Sweep Of Boston College With 4-1 Victory
April 11, 2010 | Softball
April 11, 2010
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. --- No. 24 North Carolina completed the series sweep of (10-22) Boston College by defeating the Eagles, 4-1, at Shea Field on Sunday afternoon. Shortstop Christine Knauer knocked in two RBIs for Carolina in the victory. Senior Danielle Spaulding pitched seven strong innings, holding Boston College to only one run on three hits and struck out ten Boston College batters. With the win Carolina climbs to 32-13 overall on the year and 8-7 in Atlantic Coast Conference games.
For the third straight game in the series, Boston College struck first. In today's game, second baseman Renee Ramos singled to score pitcher Nicole D'Argento to give the Eagles an early 1-0 lead in the first inning.
Carolina remained scoreless for the first three innings until claiming the lead by scoring two runs in the fourth inning. The inning started with senior first baseman Stephanie Murad singling through the left side and advanced to second on a Kelli Wheeler sacrifice bunt. Next up, Tisha Mahon, reached on a throwing error from the pitcher. During the next at bat, Mahon stole second base and gave Carolina two runners in scoring position. The next batter, the lead-off hitter Knauer, who had only four RBIs entering the contest slapped a D'Argento pitch up the middle and scored both Murad and Mahon. The two runs allowed Carolina to take the lead, 2-1, in the fourth inning.
Carolina came close to adding more runs in the sixth inning, but could not convert two runners in scoring position. D'Argento walked the first two hitters, Wheeler and Williams, to start the inning. A Mahon sacrifice bunt to the pitcher advanced both runners to second and third base respectively. Carolina, a team that has batted .283 so far this season with runners in scoring position, failed to get a hit and the Tar Heels left the inning still leading by only one run, 2-1.
Spaulding helped her own cause by pulling a line drive down the right field line for a double to lead off the seventh inning. Junior Brittany McKinney followed with a single to left field and advanced Spaulding to third base with no outs. UNC added a run when Murad grounded to shortstop and plated Spaulding to extend the lead to 3-1. Sophomore Kelli Wheeler followed with a fly ball that was carried in the strong Massachusetts' winds and misplayed by the Boston College outfield. Wheeler advanced to third on the play and scored Murad to give Carolina a commanding 4-1 lead heading into the game's final frame.
Spaulding closed the game out by retiring the Eagles' batters in order to give the Tar Heels a 4-1 win. The victory gave Carolina the series sweep after winning both games yesterday by the scores of 4-1 and 16-9.
Spaulding received the win, her 13th of the season, and complete game (14). Spaulding continued her dominate performances in the series, striking out 10 batters in the game a day after registering 16 punch outs in yesterday's first game. With the two starts this weekend, the two-time ACC Player of the Year now has 210 strike outs on the year.
Carolina returns to action on Wednesday traveling to Farmville, Va. to face Longwood in a doubleheader starting at 2:30 p.m.
