University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Longwood
Early Offense Enough To Spear Lancers, 5-3
March 16, 2016 | Softball
Farmville, Va. – A four-run first inning, capped by a three-run home run by pitcher Kendra Lynch, would prove all the offense the Tar Heels would need as UNC defeated Longwood University, 5-3, on Tuesday night. The win lifts UNC to 13-11 on the season, while the defending Big South champions fell to 9-8.
“We started off the game great,” said head coach Donna J. Papa. “Kendra's home run. Destiny got on base. I thought we did some really good things in the first two innings; I felt like we were clicking on all cylinders. We were challenging them offensively. We had bases loaded in another inning and took a 5-0 lead. Longwood chipped away a little bit, but I really felt like Kendra maintained her composure. She's been in these situations the last few weeks and I feel like now she's able to manage them and handle herself.”
Three Tar Heels has multi-hit performances, led by Berlynne Delamora, who reached base all four times with two walks, a single, a double and a run scored.
“She locks in,” said Papa. “She's very calm up there, very poised, and just knows she has a job to do. She never looks rattled. She puts a good bat on the ball, she hits it solid, a lot of times up the middle. She's hitting the ball hard and she's very locked in, and that's the thing that's really important. She never loses her composure; she has a mission up at the plate and just does it.”
Lynch went 2-for-4 with what would turn out to be the game-winning three-run home run, and Destiny DeBerry singled twice, scored, stole a base and hit a sacrifice fly.
“I thought Destiny hit well,” said Papa. “We did a lot of good things offensively, and I thought we played very solid defense all the way around to be able to hold onto that lead.”
Lynch (11-8) retired the first two batters of every inning and did not allow a base hit after the fourth inning, as she sealed up the complete-game victory after allowing just one earned run on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts.
“That's huge,” said Papa of getting the first two batters out each inning. “That's one of our goals is to get the lead out. Any time you get somebody on, then things start to happen, they get momentum. She did a great job keeping the lead runner off, and that to me is one of the biggest things that you can do to limit another team's offense.”
Elizabeth McCarthy dropped to 5-5 on the season after allowing all five runs on five hits and two walks over 2.0+ innings. Sydney Gay replaced her in the third inning and kept UNC off the board for the remainder of the game, allowing four hits and a walk over the final five innings.
The Tar Heels attacked Longwood for four runs in the top of the first, thanks to an RBI double by Tracy Chandless and a three-run home run by Lynch. DeBerry got the Heels started with a bloop single that dropped in behind second, then stole her 11th base of the season to get into scoring position. Delamora walked to fill in the empty base behind Chandless and scored on the home run.
Carolina added another run in the top of the second, as Aquilla Mateen and Kristen Brown reached on back-to-back singles, then DeBerry drove in Mateen on a sacrifice fly.
The Tar Heels loaded the bases in the top of the third, but were unable to come up with another big hit, as reliever Sydney Gay stranded three to hold UNC at five.
Longwood took advantage of a Tar Heel error to score two in the bottom of the third. For the third straight inning, a Lancer reached base on a two-out hit, then Emily Murphy laced a hard ball at Brown who couldn't come up with the ball and allowed runners on the corners. A successful double steal sent Krista Kelly across the plate, then Karleigh Donovan drove in a run with an RBI single.
The Lancers used another two-out rally to chip further away at the Tar Heel lead in the fourth. Jessica Smith got it started with a two-out single to shallow center, then Glenn Walters was hit by a pitch. Ferraro threw down to first trying to pick her off, and Smith took advantage to swipe third. Kelly then came through with an RBI single up the middle to make it 5-3.
DeBerry and Delamora both singled in the top of the seventh, but a well-turned double play by Murphy at short kept UNC from adding any insurance.
After Lynch once again retired the first two batters of the inning, a hit by pitch and a full-count walk brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh. However, Lynch got Justina Augustine to fly out to center for the final out to seal up the 5-3 victory.
“In the last inning they really challenged us, and I thought Kendra stood up a lot straighter and was really tough in that situation,” said Papa. “I was really proud of our effort and that we made it through the sixth and seventh inning. We're starting to find ways to hold the lead and make sure we don't get panicked.”
The Tar Heels return home on Wednesday, March 16, for a rivalry game with NC State at Anderson Stadium. The nonconference matchup with the Wolfpack is slated to begin at 6 p.m.
