UNC softball looks to bounce back

It’s been an up-and-down season for North Carolina softball coach Donna Papa and her team, but after dropping six of the last nine and falling soundly into fourth place in the ACC standings, she views this weekend’s series against Georgia Tech as a chance for redemption.

UNC sits at 21-18 overall, 12-7 in the ACC, but Papa argues her team is better than its fourth place record suggests.

“We’re not a bad team. We’re just not consistent in our mentality,” she said. “We tend to beat ourselves.”

Georgia Tech, who sits squarely in the middle of the ACC at seventh place (19-16, 8-11) after a strong start to the season, is reeling, having lost six in a row and 10 of its last 11.

“Georgia Tech is a team that’s been struggling, and we know that we can beat them,” said senior outfielder Amy Nece. “We know that.”

Two weekends ago, UNC found itself tied for first place in the conference with powerhouse Florida State. But the Seminoles marched into Chapel Hill and swept the Tar Heels firmly out of first place, winning the three game series by a combined score of 16-4.

Papa is quick to point out that the Seminoles, who are ranked eighth nationally, are on an entirely different level of play than the rest of the ACC, but that her team hung tough.

“We certainly competed with them,” she said.

It got worse before it got better, as UNC dropped the next game at UNC-Charlotte 4-3.

“We were not present when we played Charlotte,” Papa said, claiming the aftermath of the Florida State loss seemed to hang over their heads.

After a sweep of Virginia, the Tar Heels came back home for a doubleheader against ACC-newcomer Notre Dame and dropped both of them.

Nece said the team has a game plan going into this weekend’s series like it always does. Now, it’s just a matter of execution, she said.

“Sometimes the plan doesn’t work and sometimes we abandon it, but we need to figure out a way to win with it,” she said.

Papa says there’s one more thing her team needs in order to come out with a “W” this weekend.

“We need to be fighting and clawing,” she said. “It’s a game of inches and we have to find a way to win it.”

sports@dailytarheel.com