University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Longwood
Heels Top Longwood With Record-Breaking Walk-Off Blast
May 20, 2016 | Softball
HARRISONBURG, VA. – Carolina fell behind 4-0 early, but a four-run fifth inning tied the score and senior shortstop Kristen Brown crushed a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh to propel UNC to a 6-4 victory over Longwood University in the opening game of the 2016 NCAA Regionals.
“We've been this way all year,” said head coach Donna J. Papa. “I didn't expect to start off making some bad defensive plays. We kind of put them in the lead by bad plays. But we came back from being down 4-0 and as it gets to the later innings, that's tough The girls had a lot of fight in them and I'm really proud.
“We told them all year 'defense wins championships,' and certainly the way we played defense today, that's not going to win us a championship. However, we were able to get back in it with our bats and Kendra definitely kept us in the game. So it was huge for us to be able to overcome that.”
Brown's game-winning blast was the 66th of her career, breaking the all-time Atlantic Coast Conference career home run record.
“Kristen's a special player,” said Papa. “I've been coaching 31 years and I could maybe count on my hand the type of player that she is that I've had at Carolina. The thing about Kristen is, she's very athletic, but she's also very humble. She's just a phenomenal athlete. I'm very proud of what she's done. It's tough, she's had a tougher year because people are not willing to pitch to her. She's had to really be patient and sometimes it's been tough for her to do that. What a big moment and big stage for her to be on to get that hit and break that record. I'm really happy for her because she definitely deserves it.”
Brown went 2-for-3 for the Tar Heels, tying UNC's single-season walk record in the first, then tallying an RBI single in the fifth and the game-winning two-run shot in the bottom of the seventh.
“She keeps the team together, she is our go-to person,” said Tar Heel pitcher Kendra Lynch. “When we need something to get done, we look towards Kristen. She's done it all year so this didn't really shock anybody that she was the one to come through in the end to get the big hit. She's just that person that the team looks towards. It's going to be a huge loss next year obviously, but she's an awesome teammate to play with.”
Lynch, who did not allow an earned run in the circle, went 2-for-3 at the plate with the game-tying RBI, while Taylor Wike paced UNC at the plate going 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored including the game-winner in the seventh. Additionally, Leah Murray got her job done with an RBI single and a run scored as a pinch hitter in the fifth.
“I thought we hit the ball well,” said Papa. “Leah came in and did a great job of igniting us in that inning. Taylor was hitting the ball well all day and then Kristen is dangerous up at the plate and we're very glad they pitched to her. That was exciting, that was a big exclamation point. And that's really what we wanted to do, get in the winner's bracket, you never want to start off with a loss.”
Lynch (28-17) shined in the circle, limiting the Lancers to four hits and a walk without an earned run, striking out six. The junior hurler, who already holds the UNC single-season records for appearances (51) and starts (45), broke the Carolina record for innings pitched in the second with a total of 289.1 at the end of the day. Additionally, she is just one complete game shy of matching that record and is third all time with 28 wins.
“Kendra is a workhorse,” said Brown. “One of the toughest, hardest workers on our team. She never backs down. Her arm is probably about to fall off, but she's pitching well and she's doing it at the right time. We just have to make the plays behind her. A lot of the hits she gave up weren't even like crazy hits, we just have to make the defensive plays behind her to back her up.”
Sydney Gay (18-7) kept UNC at bay early, but ended the outing by allowing six earned runs on nine hits and three walks over 6.1 innings to take just her seventh loss of the year. Kaylynn Batten was Longwood's spark at the plate, with a two-run home run and two runs scored.
Longwood got on the board first, plating an unearned run in the top of the second. Batten reached as the leadoff batter after a miscommunication between Wike and Darby Rosen led to a dropped pop up. She got to third on a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch, and an RBI single by Kelsey Sweeney sent the first run of the postseason across the plate.
Errors continued to plague Carolina in the top of the third. Krista Kelly led off with a fly ball deep to the corner in left. DeBerry made a long run and got under it but was unable to make the catch, as Kelly stood in with a double. Carly Adams laid down a sac bunt, but the throw to first ended up in right field, allowing Kelly to score. Batten then crushed a ball to left center for a two-run home run to make it 4-0 Longwood, all unearned.
“A couple of things didn't go our way,” said Lynch. “But for me, I can't let it get bigger than it is. My job is just to keep the batters off base, get to the next hitter, try to get that leadoff out. If that doesn't happen, get the next one. I just really had to keep the team in it and not let it get bigger than it was.”
Carolina got its bats going in the bottom of the fifth, using four RBI singles to tie the score at four. Tracy Chandless got it started with a leadoff walk, then Murray stepped in to pinch hit and drove in pinch runner Dani Garcielita with an RBI single up the middle. Jillian Ferraro drew a four-pitch walk as a pinch hitter, then Wike, Brown and Lynch went back-to-back-to-back with two-out RBI singles to knot the score at four.
Another UNC error followed by a double by Karleigh Donovan put two Lancers in scoring position with one out in the top of the sixth, but a strikeout and a pop up got Lynch out of the jam and preserved the tie.
Carolina stranded a one-out single in the bottom of the sixth, but Wike got the Heels going again in the bottom of the seventh, drilling a one-out single off the wall in right center. Brown then stepped up to the plate and launched the first pitch she saw well over the fence in left to break the ACC career home run record and give her Heels a walk-off 6-4 victory.
The Tar Heels return to Veteran's Memorial Park at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 21, for the first game in the NCAA Harrisonburg Regional winner's bracket. UNC will face the winner of Friday's game between #7-seed JMU and Princeton, with Saturday's winner advancing to the championship game on Sunday at 2 p.m. Whichever team does not advance on Saturday afternoon will play the remaining 1-1 team at 7 p.m. on Saturday for a second shot at Championship Sunday.
“We're very confident right now,” said Brown. “We beat Longwood before so that also helped us play a little easier. I think we played well in the ACC tournament so coming in here we're very confident. We're playing good softball at the right time.”
