In the first two weeks of its 2012 season, the North Carolina softball team accumulated two things — frequent flyer miles and victories.
After finishing 4-0 at the National Invitational Tournament in Clermont, Fla. last week, UNC hit the road again for the eighth annual Mardi Gras Classic in Lafayette, La.
It was there that the undefeated Tar Heels encountered their first scare of the season against the 4-1 Texas-El Paso Miners in the tournament’s opening game.
Although UNC started off strong by taking a commanding 3-0 lead in the first inning, it could not quite put the Miners away.
A crucial error committed by sophomore third baseman Logan Foulks gave UTEP a 4-3 lead in the top of the fourth. And a two-run homer by UTEP’s Camilla Carrera tied the game at six going into the final inning.
“I think it was the biggest test (of the season so far) because we didn’t shut them down,” senior catcher Ally Blake said. “We let them stay in the game, but showed a lot of fight toward the end, which was great for us because we really haven’t had to fight for something yet.”
Fortunately for UNC, Foulks erased her fourth inning error in the eyes of her teammates and coaches by leading off the bottom of the seventh with a walk-off home run down the right field line to give the Heels a 7-6 win.
“One of the things that I felt from the Fall was that we were going to be a good offensive team from a standpoint of hitting,” said UNC coach Donna Papa. “I just felt like that was going to be one of our strengths and so far it’s proven to be the case.”
The continued solid pitching of sophomore Lori Spingola also had a big impact on the game that went down to the wire.
