North Carolina
Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech Takes Two From UNC
April 16, 2011 | Softball
April 16, 2011
ATLANTA, GA. --- Georgia Tech used a three-run walk off home run and a six-run fourth frame to claim a doubleheader over North Carolina 6-4 and 7-5 Saturday afternoon at Mewborn Field. Haleigh Dickey registered four hits and three RBI on the day to lead UNC. Carolina falls to 27-18 overall and 9-5 in ACC play.
Game 1
Lori Spingola (21-12) allowed six runs on nine hits over 6 1/3 innings of work. The Atlanta, Ga., native struck out seven, but issued four walks in the loss.
Brittany McKinney paced UNC offensively with a pair of hits. Dickey added a home run and three RBI, while Logan Foulks added a solo home run.
UNC earned a pair of base runners in the second. McKinney mashed a double off the left center field wall for the first hit of the game. Yellow Jackets starter Kritsten Adkins issued a two-out walk, but ended the threat with a groundout.
In the bottom of the inning, the Yellow Jackets loaded the bases with two outs after a single and two walks. Spingola wriggled out of the jam with her fourth strikeout of the game. The two teams combined to leave five runners on after an eventful second inning.
Carolina manufactured three runs on four hits in the third frame. A three-run home run off the bat of Dickey pushed the Tar Heels in front 3-0. The Woodstock, Ga., native catapulted her 10th home run of the year over the left field fence to provide the runs for UNC.
The Yellow Jackets responded with a pair of runs courtesy of a Kelsi Weseman two-run shot. Wesemen lifted a 3-2 offering from Spingola to the opposite field just over the left field wall for her league-best 16th home run of 2011. Spingola ended the inning with her sixth punch out.
After a scoreless fourth, the Yellow Jackets scratched out a run to knot the score at three. Georgia Tech's Alysha Rudnik parachuted a double into shallow right field to place runners at second and third. A successful squeeze bunt off the bat of Kate Kuzma scored one. Spingola did not allow another run to cross with the score tied at three entering the sixth.
New inserted pitcher Lindsey Anderson struck out the side in the top of the sixth. The right-hander did not have the same success in the seventh as Foulks hammered a solo shot over the left field wall to lead off the inning. The Tar Heels added another hit after a Dani Manko double, but Anderson got out of the frame. Foulks' fourth home run of the season placed UNC in front 4-3.
A one-out walk and single off the bat of Kuzma placed go-ahead run on base in the bottom of the inning for the Yellow Jackets. Caitlin Jordan then cranked a walk-off three-run opposite field home run to give the Georgia Tech a 6-4 win.
Game 2
Sara Buchholz allowed four runs, two earned, on six hits in 3.1 innings of work. Spingola (21-13) suffered the loss rendering three runs, all unearned, on three hits.
Weseman pushed the Yellow Jackets in front 1-0 with her 17th home run of the year in the first. Buchholz allowed two more base runners, but ended the frame with a strikeout.
In the second, Carolina loaded the bases on walk and a pair of singles from Dani Manko and pinch-hitter Brittany Robinson. The second pinch-hitter of the frame, Jordan Scarboro, drew a RBI two-out walk to knot the score at one. Carolina failed to add any more runs as UNC and Georgia Tech were all tied at one after two.
Yellow Jacket starter Hope Rush continued to labor into the third frame. Dickey earned a single and UNC quickly loaded the bases after back-to-back walks with one out. Foulks then chased Rush with a two-RBI double down the left field line.
With Anderson in the circle, Carolina extended the inning as pinch-hitter Cara Vitale dumped a RBI single into left field. Anderson got out of the inning, but not before UNC took a 4-1 led manufacturing three runs in the third.
Georgia Tech vaulted into the lead in the bottom of the inning, manufacturing six runs on four hits and a pair of UNC errors. A Weseman three-run home run followed by a solo shot from Jordan highlighted the big inning for the Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech led 7-4 through four frames.
Amy Nece started a two-out rally in the sixth with a base hit to center field. Dickey followed with a single then Ally Blake laced a RBI single down the right field line to score Nece. A groundout thwarted the Tar Heel rally as UNC trailed 7-5 after six.
The Tar Heels earned a pair of base runners in the final frame, but could not find any runs. Carolina left a season-high 11 runners on base in the loss. Georgia Tech claims their 21st straight league series and UNC drops their first ACC series of the season.
Carolina and Georgia Tech will conclude their three-game set tomorrow at 1 p.m. from Mewborn Field.
