No. 14 JMU Takes Doubleheader From UNC In Home Finale

Wednesday, April 26

Chapel Hill, N.C.

4:00 PM

North Carolina

36-14

JMU

40-6

James Madison

North Carolina

April 27, 2017 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Game 1 Box Game 2 Box Photo Gallery

By: UNC Athletic Communications

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina closed out the 2017 regular-season home slate on Wednesday evening with a doubleheader against No. 14/15 James Madison. The Tar Heels came up just short in game one, leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh to fall 4-3. The Dukes had UNC's number in the nightcap, winning 8-0 in five innings. With the sweep, JMU improved to 41-6, while Carolina fell to 36-15.

“Megan Good is one of the best pitchers in the country, and they have one of the best hitting teams in the country,” said head coach Donna J. Papa. “I felt like we did a great job today and we put ourselves in a position to win. We had opportunities and especially at the end I was really excited with bases loaded, no outs, and we had our 4-5-6 hitters coming up. That's what you want in that situation. Unfortunately, they didn't deliver. All we needed was a hit or two and game over. We put ourselves in a position to win, we were battling that whole game.

“I don't feel like we had the same fight in game two and that is disappointing to me when you are playing a top-15 team. Had we won that first game that totally gives you a different mentality and a different perspective and a different feel. I thought Kellyn Daly did a great job when she came in handling some of their hitters, but we didn't do anything up at the plate.”

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
#14 JMU	1	0	0	3	0	0	0	4	9	3
North Carolina	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	3	7	0

A pair of solo home runs gave North Carolina an early lead, but a two-run single by Morgan Tolle put JMU on top 4-3 in the fourth. The Tar Heels loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the seventh, but USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Finalist Megan Good retired three straight to strand them in place and hold on for the one-run victory.

Senior Kendra Lynch reached base in all four trips to the plate, going 3-for-3 with a double, a home run and a hit by pitch. Brittany Pickett gave UNC the lead with a solo home run and walked, and Leah Murray, Taylor Wike and Katie Bailiff all singled in the game.

Pickett (20-4) went the distance in the circle, allowing four runs on nine hits and a walk with three strikeouts. Megan Good improved to an impeccable 29-1 on the year, giving up three runs, two earned, on seven hits and three walks with six strikeouts over the full seven innings. It marked the first time all season that Good allowed two home runs in a game and just the fourth time she allowed more than one earned run.

Megan Good opened the scoring in the top of the first with a solo home run to left field.

Lynch tied the score in the bottom half, launching her 20th long ball in the season to knot the score at one.

Pickett put the Tar Heels in the lead in the bottom of the second, drilling a solo shot to right center.

Carolina took advantage of three JMU errors to score a run in the bottom of the third. Destiny DeBerry struck out as the leadoff batter, but sped down to first after a dropped third strike. Murray reached on a fielding error, then Wike lined one to the right side. The first baseman snagged it out of the air and tagged Murray for the double play, but her toss to second for an attempt to turn three ended up in left field, as DeBerry dusted herself off and came all the way around to score.

JMU replied in the top of the fourth, loading the bases with no outs on a walk, a bunt single and a hit batter. Back-to-back hits up the middle plated three Dukes, as a two-run single by Morgan Tolle gave JMU the lead, 4-3, before the Heels turned two to end the inning.

The score remained 4-3 heading into the final inning. UNC was back to the top of the order to start the bottom of the seventh, and Murray, Wike and Lynch led off with three consecutive singles to load the bases with no one out and put the tying run in scoring position. However, Good struck out Delamora and Shifflett, then a diving catch by third baseman Madyson Moran retired Pickett for the final out of the game as UNC stranded three and dropped the first game of the day, 4-3.

	1	2	3	4	5	R	H	E
#14 JMU	0	1	4	0	3	8	9	1
North Carolina	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1

North Carolina was limited to just two hits in game two, and a costly error in the top of the fifth allowed JMU to end the game in five innings, 8-0. Leah Murray and Katelyn Shifflett both singled in the game, and a fifth-inning walk issued to Campbell Hutcherson represented the last of Carolina's offense.

Brittany Pickett (20-5) took her second loss of the day after allowing five runs on eight hits and a walk with two strikeouts over just 2.2 innings. Kellyn Daly looked sharp in relief, limiting JMU to a single hit but two walks and an error led to three unearned runs to go with two strikeouts over 2.0 innings. Sydney Matzko retired the only batter she faced to end the fifth inning.

Odicci Alexander (9-5) pitched the full five innings for JMU, allowing just two hits and a walk with five strikeouts in her fifth complete-game shutout of the season.

Madyson Moran opened the scoring with a solo home run to lead off the second inning.

A two-run blast by Taylor Newton kicked off a four-run third inning, and a two-run single by Madison Naujokas made it 5-0 JMU.

Two of the first three batters walked in the top of the fifth, then a throwing error by Daly allowed both runners to score while the batter, Prince, hustled all the way around to third. A sacrifice bunt by Naujokas drove in a third unearned run, making it 8-0 Dukes and setting up a run-rule situation.

Hutcherson walked with one out in the bottom of the fifth, but the next two batters both grounded out to the pitcher as JMU sealed up the 8-0 victory in five innings.

North Carolina hits the road for its biggest challenge of the season this weekend, facing No. 2/3 Florida State in a three-game series to close out the regular season. The Seminoles have clinched the ACC regular-season title with a perfect 21-0 record in conference play, while the Heels seek to lock up the #2-seed for the ACC Tournament which will be held in Chapel Hill on May 11-13.

“I think the good thing was that we faced really good pitching tonight and that will prepare us for what we are going to face this weekend in Tallahassee,” said Papa. “We are going to face another good pitcher. I don't know who is better, Good or (Jessica) Burroughs. They're both really, really good. Florida State is undefeated in the conference, so we are going to have our hands full. We are at their home on their senior weekend. They have some good hitters like some of the hitters for JMU, so I think having played this game today is definitely great preparation for Florida State.”

The weekend series opens on Friday, April 28, at 6 p.m., followed by a 1 p.m. start on Saturday, with the regular-season finale set for Noon on Sunday.