North Carolina softball wins final home game of regular season 12-4 over Elon

In the last regular season home game of the year, the North Carolina softball team needed a big win to carry the momentum into its final road trip.

The Tar Heels answered the bill with a 12-4 win over its in-state rivals Elon, on a walk-off homerun from Kendra Lynch Wednesday night. 

Lynch, the hero of the night, started in right field, tried her hand at pitching and then hit the walk-off. In the pitcher's circle, Lynch gave up two runs in the sixth inning, but just moments later, made up for it with her three-run blast to end the game.

“I was confident going into the at-bat,” Lynch said, ”Mentally, I knew I could end this game.”

But Lynch wasn’t the only person to go deep for the Tar Heels. Senior Jenna Kelly and junior Kristen Brown also hit home runs.

But Brown's wasn’t your ordinary home run — it was her record-breaking 44th career dinger, notching her place in the UNC softball record books.

“There have been so many amazing players in this program," Brown said. “It’s a huge honor.”

Coach Donna Papa was ecstatic for Brown and her dominant season, which has made her a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year finalist.

“She has done a great job this year with her maturity,” Papa said, “She has become a much more seasoned hitter.”

The Tar Heels offensive attack usually comes in spurts, which was on display with their three innings of at least three runs scored, including a six-run fourth inning.

Papa said the team had focused on situational hitting at practice the day before and hitting with runners in scoring position.

“We really don’t like leaving people on base,” Papa said, “It’s one of our biggest goals.”

While the offense was in great condition in their win over Elon, starting pitcher Sydney Matzko got her 14th win on the season from the circle.

Both Brown and Lynch spoke about the importance of scoring runs early in the game to give Matzko confidence pitching.

“Those big innings we have give our pitchers confidence,” Brown said. “That gives them much less pressure to work with.”

This game gave Papa the chance to work in some bench players into the lineup and give a few players opportunities before their weekend series against Notre Dame.

Last week the Tar Heels' mid-week game was rained out which hurt UNC in its performance against N.C. State that weekend. In the first of the three games with the Wolfpack, UNC scored only two runs on their nine hits.

“This game was really important, without our game we couldn’t last week we couldn’t finish in the first game,” Papa said. “These games give us the chance to give more players at-bats and opportunities.”