UNC softball falls from winning streak in loss to Louisville

The North Carolina softball team was on fire.

Entering this weekend’s series against Louisville, the Tar Heels (21-7, 6-2) were riding a five-game winning streak and had notched wins in nine of their last 10 games.

They were also unbeaten in the ACC, a record they hoped would remain unblemished on their way to a sweep. Louisville (18-8, 8-1), however, had other plans. North Carolina managed to win the first game, but the Cardinals won the next two to effectively douse the Tar Heels.

“We didn’t get it done this weekend,” Coach Donna Papa said. “It was very, very disappointing. I feel like we let this series slip through our fingers.”

The Tar Heels got off to a strong start in Game 1 on Saturday after establishing an early lead in the top of the first inning on an RBI double from senior Amber Parrish.

Reigning ACC Player of the Week Kristen Brown continued her recent stretch of supremacy at the plate, hitting a two-run shot in the third inning that extended the Tar Heels’ lead to three.

Louisville would fight back with a run in the fifth inning, but the Tar Heels held them off and won the game 4-2.

Game 2 was a completely different story, as Louisville tallied eight runs on eight hits through the first three innings and never looked back. The Tar Heels ended up recording 11 hits to the Cardinals’ 12 but were unable to capitalize and dropped Game 2 by a score of 9-2.

“We gave up runs early, although we hit the ball well,” Papa said. “Their hits were just timely, and ours were not.”

Papa said that despite losing the second game, she believed there were things the team did well and hoped to build upon heading into the final game of the series on Sunday.

The Tar Heels got out to a 2-0 lead behind another home run from Brown in the top of the first. Louisville stormed back and took the lead behind four runs in the fourth inning. 

Brown would add yet another home run in the fifth, her third of the weekend and 13th of the season.

“I’m pretty confident that I’m going to get the job done,” said Brown about her offensive mentality. “I hope the (hitting) streak continues, and I’m going to keep working hard and doing anything I can to perform for my teammates."

Despite hot hitting from Brown, the deficit proved to be too large for the Tar Heels to surmount, and they lost the final game 6-4.

“We need to take care of details a little better,” said sophomore outfielder Kendra Lynch. “We got a little sloppy in some of our games, and we had some small mistakes that cost us.”

As the majority of conference play lies ahead, Papa wants to stress to her team the importance of staying focused in order to compete at the highest possible level.

“Every game matters in the ACC,” Papa said. “I want us to be a great team, not just a good team. I feel like we still have the opportunity to be a great team, but we let two games get away from us, and I’m a little frustrated by that.

“We put ourselves in a great position to be at the top of the ACC, and now we’re down two games. That definitely wasn’t what I expected going into the weekend.”

sports@dailytarheel.com