University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
#1 Florida State (Semifinals)
Missed Opportunities Hurt Carolina In ACC Semifinals
May 13, 2016 | Softball
RALEIGH – North Carolina had runners on base in all-but-one inning, but lacked the timely hits necessary to get the job done as the Tar Heels fell to top-seeded No. 6 Florida State, 7-1, in the ACC Semifinals. The Seminoles (47-8) advanced to play the winner of #2-seed Louisville vs. #3-seed Notre Dame in Saturday's ACC Championship game.
The Tar Heels (31-23) had plenty of scoring opportunities, but went a meager 1-for-14 with runners on base, including 1-for-10 with Tar Heels in scoring position. An RBI double by Berlynne Delamora in the fifth inning drove in Taylor Wike for Carolina's lone run of the game.
Wike led both teams by going 3-for-4 with a double, a stolen base and UNC's only run, while Delamora was 2-for-3 with the RBI double. Kristen Brown had Carolina's final hit, an opposite field single with two outs in the seventh, and four Tar Heels walked, including Aquilla Mateen who subsequently stole her 70th career base.
Kendra Lynch (27-17), who became the first Tar Heel ever to appear in 50 games in a single season in her record-tying 44th start of the year, went the first 5.0+ innings, allowing all seven runs on 10 hits and a walk. Lauren Fuller came in to relieve her in the fifth and retired all three batters she faced.
Jessica Burroughs started for Florida State, but left after allowing three hits and three walks over three shutout frames, striking out three. Meghan King (22-3) replaced her for the final four innings, earning the victory after giving up a run on three hits and a walk with seven strikeouts.
Carolina had the first real scoring opportunity of the game in the top of the second, loading the bases with nobody out on a leadoff single by Delamora and walks by Tracy Chandless and Fuller. However, Burroughs got herself out of the jam by striking out the next three batters to strand three and preserve the scoreless tie.
The Tar Heels squandered another scoring chance in the top of the third, as Wike led off with a single and stole second. Lynch nearly had the RBI hit, but her rip down the line was just foul, and she followed up with a walk. Delamora moved the runners into scoring position, but a fly out stranded another pair of Tar Heels without a run.
Florida State loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the third, and the Tar Heel defense was unable to do what the Seminoles had done to them, as a sacrifice fly by Ellie Cooper sent the first run across the plate, then Jessica Warren crushed a three-run home run to right field to make it 4-0 FSU.
Wike led off the fifth with a double to right center for her third hit of the game. King struck out the next two Tar Heels, but Delamora came through with an RBI double down the first base line to get UNC on the board, 4-1.
Florida State got the run back and then some in the bottom of the fifth kicked off by a solo shot from Cali Harrod. Morgan Klaevemann kept it going with a single and stole second. A sac bunt put her on third, and Warren drove her in with an RBI single to center. Another single by Alex Powers got Warren to third and a sac fly by Zoe Casas made it 7-1 Seminoles before a fantastic play in the gap by Mateen ended the inning.
A two-out single by Brown in the the top of the seventh was the last of Carolina's offense, as Florida State closed out the 7-1 victory to earn a shot at its third straight ACC Tournament title.
Carolina now awaits its postseason fate, hoping to punch a ticket to its 13th NCAA Tournament in the past 16 seasons. The Tar Heels will find out if they will be placed in one of 16 NCAA Regionals during the NCAA Selection Show, which will air live on ESPNU on Sunday, May 15, at 10 p.m.
