UNC softball blows out Elon, 13-1

The North Carolina softball team put on one of its strongest offensive performances of the season on Thursday night, tallying 16 hits in a 13-1 run-ruled rout of Elon .

The Tar Heels (18-12), who were looking to hand the Phoenix (16-14-1) its sixth straight loss , wasted no time getting to work at the plate.

Sophomore outfielder Aquilla Mateen got things started for the Tar Heels in the second inning.

With no outs and the bases loaded, Mateen singled to shortstop, driving in North Carolina’s first run.

The Tar Heels went on to score four more runs in the second, and they never looked back .

“Our offense was amazing today,” Mateen said.

“We were seeing the ball and hitting the ball, and we took advantage of their errors when they were on defense.”

The Phoenix proved to be no match for the Tar Heels, mustering just one run on four hits in the game .

North Carolina also managed to score three runs on three costly errors by the Phoenix .

Sophomore shortstop Kristen Brown added further insult to injury in the sixth inning, blasting a grand slam that extended UNC’s lead to 11 runs .

The homer was Brown’s team-leading ninth of the season .

“When one person hits the ball, it’s just really contagious,” Brown said.

“We all get hot together, so collectively as a team, we just kept hitting the ball and scoring runs.”

Back in February, the outlook on the Tar Heels’ season was looking less than optimistic.

The team got off to a 2-6 start , one that head coach Donna Papa said was one of the slowest she had experienced in her 29 years at UNC .

Fast forward a month, and the Tar Heels have now won seven of their last eight games . Brown believes the team’s never-quit mentality is one of the things that has allowed the Tar Heels to begin to play more efficiently together.

“The Carolina softball team, we’re never gonna give up,” Brown said.

“No matter if the game goes our way or not, we’re gonna go out there the next day knowing that we’re gonna play our hardest and be the best we can be.”

The Tar Heels are in a rhythm right now, and Mateen said the team has no plans of slowing down anytime soon.

“We always try to finish out on top of the ACC,” Mateen said.

“We want to get to the conference tournament, win the tournament and make it to Super Regionals this year. We’re trying to do something no other team has done at Carolina.”

sports@dailytarheel.com