Doubleheader Sweep Sends Heels To Regional Final

Saturday, May 20

Oxford, Miss.

5:00 PM

North Carolina

39-20

Southern Illinois

33-24

Southern Illinois

North Carolina

May 21, 2017 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 SIU Box Arizona State Box

By: UNC Athletic Communications

Oxford, Miss. – With their season on the line, the North Carolina Tar Heels won back-to-back elimination games on Saturday to propel themselves into the NCAA Oxford Regional Final. Carolina was led by a freshman duo in the circle, as Brittany Pickett tossed a three-hit shutout over Southern Illinois, 4-0, then Kellyn Daly earned her first career victory with a 3-2 win over No. 22 Arizona State.

Leah Murray and Berlynne Delamora fueled Carolina's offense, both reaching base in all-but-one plate appearance and combining for nine hits, two walks and four RBIs.

With the pair of wins, UNC improved to 40-20 on the season and advances to play #12-seed Ole Miss in the Regional Final at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 20. The Rebels are 2-0 on the weekend, so UNC will need to defeat Ole Miss twice to advance to Super Regionals. Sunday's winner will face the winner of the Los Angeles Regional, hosted by #5-seed UCLA, next weekend in what will be the first-ever Super Regional appearance for either program.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Southern Illinois (33-24)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1
North Carolina	0	0	2	0	2	0	-	4	9	0

The Tar Heels began the day with a three-hit gem by Brittany Pickett, backed by a 3-for-3 performance at the plate by leadoff batter Leah Murray. UNC plated a pair of runs in the third and fifth innings to knock Southern Illinois out of the postseason, 4-0.

Brittany Pickett (22-9) limited the Salukis to a total of five baserunners with two walks and three hits, striking out seven in her fifth complete-game shutout of the season. Leah Murray reached base four times in the game, going 3-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base and a run, while Berlynne Delamora was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Katie Bailiff walked and hit a two-run single, while Taylor Wike walked, singled and scored.

Savanna Dover (7-4) tossed the first 4.0+ innings and was on the hook for all four runs on eight hits and three walks. Nicole Doyle threw the remaining two innings, allowing a hit and a walk but no runs of her own. Sydney Jones led the Salukis at the plate, with two of their three hits, including the game's only extra-base hit, a fourth-inning double.

Carolina got the leadoff batter on base in each of the first three innings, but it took a two-out rally to get the first run across the plate. After Murray had been thrown out stealing to clear the bases, Kendra Lynch singled up the middle with two outs in the third. Delamora followed with a single up the middle and great baserunning by pinch runner Micaela Abbatine helped get both runners in scoring position. Bailiff then grounded one up the middle. The second baseman fielded it but Bailiff beat the throw as Abbatine and Lauren Rushing, in her first career appearance pinch running, both came around to score.

Carolina added two more in the bottom of the fifth, as Lynch was hit by Dover's final pitch of the game following back-to-back singles by Murray and Wike. Nicole Doyle came in to pitch, but Delamora drove the second pitch she saw right up the middle for a two-run single to make it 4-0 UNC.

After Pickett retired eight straight, Sydney Jones led off the top of the seventh with a single. However, the Tar Heel rookie got outs on the next three plays to seal up her fifth complete-game shutout of the season, 4-0.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Arizona State (31-22)	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	5	1
North Carolina (40-20)	0	0	1	1	1	0	-	3	9	0

After Arizona State hit four home runs off UNC on Friday night, freshman hurler Kellyn Daly, making just her third start, kept the Sun Devils in the park to seal up her first career victory in the nightcap, 3-2. One out away from her first-ever shutout, Daly got into a bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning, but the rookie finished it off to knock No. 22 ASU out of the postseason before the Regional Final for the first time since 2005. The win marked UNC's second-ever win over a ranked opponent in the NCAA Tournament, following a 3-2 victory over No. 25 Wisconsin in the 2013 Oregon Regional.

“This was Kellyn's first complete game of the year,” said head coach Donna J. Papa. “She did an awesome job shutting down a very good hitting Arizona State team. Leah was a huge part of our offense today. I am really proud of Kellyn and what she did today, going up against some great hitters, and of Leah for getting the offense going and being the spark for us every inning.”

Three Tar Heels had multi-hit performances on Saturday night, led by Berlynne Delamora who went 2-for-2 with an RBI and a walk. Destiny DeBerry was 2-for-3 with a double, a stolen base and a run, and Leah Murray was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Kendra Lynch tied the single-season record with her 67th RBI of the year to open the scoring, and Brittany West and Taylor Wike both singled and scored.

Daly (1-1), who had pitched just 14.0 innings prior to the game, went the distance for Carolina, limiting ASU to two runs on five hits and six walks with seven strikeouts. Giselle Juarez (6-7) pitched the first four innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on seven hits and a walk with three strikeouts. Breanna Macha gave up the final run on two hits with three Ks.

Both teams combined to leave five runners on base in the first inning, then DeBerry led off the third with a double down the right field line. Juarez got the next two batters out, but an RBI single by Lynch put Carolina on the board, 1-0.

A two-out rally in the fourth made it 2-0 UNC. West got it started with a single up the middle, then DeBerry beat out a single to short and West advanced to third on an overthrow. Murray then singled up the middle, scoring West before DeBerry was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.

Carolina added another run in the bottom of the fifth. Wike led off with a single up the middle and took second on a wild pitch. Delamora then came through with an RBI single to make it 3-0.

Nichole Chilson led off the top of the seventh with a single to right, and a pair of four-pitch walks loaded the bases with one out. Chelsea Gonzales grounded out short for the second out, but sent Chilson across the plate to end the shutout bid. Sashel Palacios kept the Sun Devils alive with an RBI single to left, but a pop up to short finished it off as UNC took down Arizona State, 3-2, to advance to Championship Sunday.

“Knowing my teammates were behind me (got me through the complete game),” said Daly. “They worked hard the whole game. They scored runs for me and it gave me the confidence to finish the game.”