UNC softball team earns three wins at Carolina Classic

A combination of solid hitting, opportunistic base running and the arm of freshman pitcher Lori Spingola helped North Carolina softball take three of four games in the Carolina Classic this weekend.

The Tar Heels fell to St. Joseph’s but defeated Georgetown, Florida International and Penn State to improve to 9-5 on the season.

UNC scored eight runs in the first inning against Georgetown, propelling them to a 14-0 thrashing of the Hoyas. Kelli Wheeler and Megan Morrison each homered for the Tar Heels, while the pitching staff combined for a one-hitter.

The Tar Heels’ good hitting continued Saturday. Haleigh Dickey hit a towering two-run shot to straightaway center field, and four other Tar Heels each contributed an RBI as UNC defeated FIU 6-0.

“Our hitting has been great,” senior catcher Brittany McKinney said. “I feel like everybody is seeing the ball really well. People are getting in the box very confident.”

Base running was key for North Carolina. Against FIU, the Tar Heels stole four bases in the fourth inning alone, helping them score five runs in the inning to put the game out of reach.

“We’ve amped up our base running,” UNC coach Donna Papa said. “Boo Gillette, one of my new assistants, was at Purdue, and they led the country in stolen bases per game.”

UNC stole five bases in the win against Georgetown, and successfully completed a sixth-inning suicide squeeze against Penn State en route to a 3-0 victory.

“I think we did a great job executing that suicide squeeze, which is always fun if you do it well,” Papa said.

“That kind of puts the nail in the coffin.”

In addition to the team’s base running, Spingola’s dominant pitching performances were what allowed UNC to be successful.

The right-hander improved to 8-3 with three scoreless innings against Georgetown and a complete game shutout against FIU.

But the freshman pitcher saved her best performance for the Penn State game when she tossed her first career perfect game.

Spingola struck out six batters and her defense did the rest, making a series of fine defensive plays to preserve the perfect game.

“I think I did well, but there’s definitely things that I need to improve,” Spingola said.

McKinney, who caught Spingola’s perfect game, praised the freshman’s competitiveness on the mound.

“She’s a competitor and that’s what you have to be. She competes every pitch, every batter,” McKinney said.

St. Joseph’s defeated UNC 8-0, the only loss for the Tar Heels during the four-game invitational.

Sara Buchholz pitched just one inning, giving up five earned runs after facing eight batters.

“I want to see our other pitchers step up and take some (pressure) off of Lori,” Papa said.

Overall Papa liked what she saw from her squad in the Carolina Classic.

“We had some quality at-bats all weekend. People saw the ball well,” Papa said.

“St. Joe’s pitcher handled us, but other than that, I thought we hit the ball very well, scored runs. I think we did a nice job.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.