University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Appalachian State
Tar Heels Conquer Mountaineers, 6-2
April 20, 2010 | Softball
April 20, 2010
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. --- Led by two Stephanie Murad home runs, North Carolina rolls Appalachian State, 6-2, on Tuesday at Anderson Stadium. Senior Danielle Spaulding pitched four no-hit innings and slammed a home run in the Tar Heel victory. The win advances North Carolina's record to 36-15 this season, with the Mountaineers falling to 22-20 on the year.
Murad, a senior first baseman from Greenville, N.C., notched her first multi-homer game of her career against the Mountaineers. The 2010 recipient of the Athletic Director's Scholar-Athlete Award went 3 for 3 with 4 RBIs in the game and raised her batting average to .283 this season. Murad continues to stay hot in the month of April, she leads Carolina with a .381 batting average and 14 RBIs and is second on the team with five home runs in the 14 games this month.
Spaulding, a senior first baseman/pitcher from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., powered the Tar Heels in the circle and at the plate. In her 27th start this season, Spaulding pitched four scoreless innings and struck out six batters. For her efforts, Spaulding received the win and moved her record to 16-3 on the year. With the bat, the two-time Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, went 2 for 4 with a solo home run in the first inning of today's game.
To start the game, UNC Head Coach Donna Papa returned to the same defensive lineup as Sunday's game vs. Maryland. Offensively, the only difference was designated player Constance Orr and third baseman Brittany Robinson flip-flopped in the seven and eight hole. Carolina defeated Maryland, 4-0, in Sunday's series finale.
After Spaulding's first inning home run put Carolina up 1-0, Murad hit her first home run of the day on a solo shot to left-center to start the second inning. The Tar Heels continued to pile on in the inning, when sophomore Constance Orr singled up the middle to score Elisha Elliott, who was pinch-running for left fielder Kelli Wheeler. The RBI-single gave North Carolina a 3-0 lead.
Both teams remained scoreless for the next two innings before the Tar Heels notched three more runs in the fifth inning. The runs resulted from Murad's second home run of the game that scored freshman Tisha Mahon and catcher Brittany McKinney.
Amber Johnson (18-12) entered for North Carolina in the fourth inning in relief of Spaulding. Johnson pitched three innings of relief and preserved the Carolina lead only allowing two runs on four hits. Johnson received her second save of the year for maintaining Carolina's lead.
Trailing 6-0 to start the sixth inning, Appalachian State added two runs to bring Carolina's lead down to 6-2. Right fielder Allie Cashion knocked in both runs on a single up the middle to score center fielder Sarah Rappe and shortstop Megan Rembielak.
After the two-RBI single up the middle, Johnson retired the next four batters as the Tar Heels won 6-2.
As a team, the Tar Heels finished with nine hits. Carolina had three players with multiple hits in the game with senior Christine Knauer notching two hits along with Spaulding, and Murad leading the team with three hits.
Carolina returns to action this weekend with a road trip to (18-28, 5-10 ACC) Virginia Tech. After the Virginia Tech weekend series, the Tar Heels face Radford on April 28, for a doubleheader in the last home day of the season
