The Eagles never stood a chance.
Quite frankly, North Carolina Central didn’t even look like they belonged on the same field as the North Carolina softball team, who handed the Eagles a 21-1 defeat at Anderson Stadium on Wednesday night.
The Tar Heels took the field sporting pink ribbons and socks to honor freshman Danielle Garcielita’s mother, Kathleen, who was celebrating the 11th anniversary of her triumph over breast cancer.
North Carolina wasted no time getting to work in the final game of its fall schedule, as it fired on all cylinders from the first pitch. Sophomore Kendra Lynch tacked on two more runs to an already early lead in the first inning by sending a two-run home run over the centerfield wall. UNC went up 4-0.
“We were really aggressive tonight,” Lynch said about the team’s success at the plate. “We attacked first pitch strikes, and I thought we went up there with an attitude that we were getting it done no matter what.”
Not to be outdone, junior Tracy Chandless stepped up to the plate after Lynch and blasted a solo home run of her own, sending the ball to almost the same spot Lynch had hit hers.
After their dominant first inning, the Tar Heels never took their foot off the gas and went on to tally 21 runs on 21 hits.
“I haven’t seen us hit like this all fall,” coach Donna Papa said. “We squared the ball up, we were patient for good pitches, we did our job with runners in scoring position.
“We’ve worked a lot, but to put it together like that, batter after batter … all the way around I thought we were very confident, very poised and very solid. Twenty-one hits, 21 runs — you can’t get better than that.”
