North Carolina Softball team rights the ship against Virginia

Bouncing back from a four-game losing streak is never an easy task, but it is something that must be done to turn around a mid-season slump.

With a little help from the long ball, the North Carolina (24-9, 9-2 ACC) softball team answered that bill over the weekend, sweeping the Virginia Cavaliers (7-29, 1-11 ACC) in three straight games.

The first game on Saturday afternoon went back-and-forth, with the Tar Heels trailing 6-4 headed into the bottom of the sixth inning. But UNC answered with a nine-run final inning, including two home runs by junior Tracy Chandless, which was good enough to hold off the Cavaliers for a 13-7 victory.

Chandless led off the inning with a solo homer, and after UNC batted around, she cleared the bases with a grand slam.

“I’ve never hit two home runs in the same inning before,” Chandless said. “Something I can mark off my bucket list, I guess.”

Coach Donna Papa said the sixth-inning rally was huge for the team and credited it to having quality at-bats at the plate.

“We just talked to them about staying in the momentum and really executing,” Papa said.

The Tar Heels carried their late momentum into game two of the Saturday twin bill when they exploded for 17 runs in the first two innings en route to a 24-3 trouncing of UVa.

Kristen Brown, who broke the single season home run record over the weekend, hit two dingers in the second game to lead the team. She was joined by four other teammates for a combined seven home runs — a record-breaking number for UNC softball.

Along with breaking the home run record, the Tar Heels also tied the single-game program run record with 24 and broke the single-game hits record with 22.

UNC pitcher Sydney Matzko improved her record to 7-4 on Saturday in impressive fashion, holding the Cavaliers in check. They were held hitless until the fourth inning when they finally broke into the run column, halting the shutout as well.

UNC took the final game of the series Sunday afternoon in a mercy-rule victory of 12-4, finishing the sweep over UVa.

“Every game from here on out is important for this team,” Brown said. “This series helped give us positive mindsets going into more ACC play.”

Papa echoed Brown’s sentiment, saying the sweep was crucial for the Tar Heels to accomplish their goal of winning the regular-season ACC title.

“We stubbed our toes last week in the Louisville series,” said Papa in reference to her team dropping both games against the Cardinals a week ago. “Every game is crucial.”

And over the weekend, UNC proved just that, rebounding from recent losses and starting a new win streak all at the same time.

“It’s never a good feeling losing,” Chandless said. “So we had a lot of angst to put on UVa. as a team.”

sports@dailytarheel.com