Full Tar Heel Staff Combines For Shutout Of UNCG

Wednesday, March 29

Chapel Hill, N.C.

5:00 PM

North Carolina

27-8

UNCG

20-14

UNCG

North Carolina

March 29, 2017 | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: UNC Athletic Communications

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
UNCG	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	1
North Carolina	1	0	0	1	0	0	-	2	4	0

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina threw all five members of its pitching staff on Wednesday evening, combining for a six-hit shutout of neighboring UNCG, 2-0. The win provided the Tar Heels some redemption after the Spartans snapped Carolina's 11-game winning streak three weeks earlier in Greensboro. With the win, the Heels improve to 27-8 on the season, while UNCG drops to 20-14.

“Brittany (Pickett) and Kendra (Lynch) have been doing most of the pitching lately and I think this was a way we could keep their hitters off-balance,” said head coach Donna J. Papa. “They have a very good hitting team, they came off a great weekend. I told Chelsey (Barclay): 'No risk, no reward,' so we just decided to go for it. We have five pitchers, so why not? They give different looks, and the batters can never really get settled in on one style of pitching."

Brittany Pickett started in the circle for Carolina, and after surrendering a single to the first batter of the game, she retired six in a row, including four straight strikeouts, for the first two scoreless innings.

“She's done a great job,” said Papa. “She hasn't pitched like a freshman at all. She doesn't really get rattled out there. She's done her job.”

Hannah Nommensen tossed the third inning, allowing a single baserunner on a one-out double. Sydney Matzko followed, allowing two singles with a strikeout in the fourth inning, then Kellyn Daly, making her first appearance since March 10, gave up a walk and a strikeout in a scoreless fifth.

“Kellyn did really well,” said Papa. “She had a lot of poise and she hit her spots. She hasn't been out there in a really long time, and I would think that could create some nerves, but she just went out there and rocked it. I'm really proud of both her and Hannah. They did their jobs and it was great. It's good for our future and we feel a lot more confident now to be able to do that.”

Kendra Lynch (9-3) closed out the game for Carolina, pitching a perfect sixth inning then limiting the Spartans to a one-out single in the seventh, earning the win with two strikeouts over the final two innings.

"I'm really trying to help them with confidence,” said Lynch of her leadership role as the lone senior in the rotation. “I talk to them a lot - whether it's in the bullpen or on the mound - and they always see me cheering them on. I just think it's good for them to see that I have full faith in them. I think each of them has developed confidence-wise every time they go out on the mound, so I'm just trying to support them to give them confidence to go out there and do their thing."

North Carolina was limited to just four hits in the game, but the Tar Heels made them count. Leah Murray led off the game with a single and stole second, then scored on a two-out RBI single by Lynch in the bottom of the first. Berlynne Delamora doubled Carolina's lead with a leadoff home run in the fourth inning, and a leadoff single by Katelyn Shifflett in the fifth represented UNC's fourth and final baserunner.

Alicia Bazonski (13-9) went the distance for UNCG, taking the loss despite limiting Carolina to just four hits and no walks with three strikeouts over six innings of work.

UNCG had a runner in scoring position in four different innings, but the Tar Heel pitching staff took care of business in pressure situations, holding the Spartans to 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and 0-for-7 with two outs.

Wednesday's victory was the sixth shutout win of the season for Carolina and the fourth combined shutout for members of the staff. Pickett is the lone pitcher to participate in all six, having started five of them including a pair of complete-game shutouts. Lynch was a part of her first shutout of the season, while the remaining three had teamed up with Pickett once or twice earlier in the season.

UNC's homestand continues this weekend with an ACC series against Virginia. The series opens at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 31, followed by 1 p.m. starts on Saturday and Sunday.