The North Carolina softball team continued its winning ways Saturday morning, defeating Purdue, 5-0, in its second game of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
What happened?
UNC (5-3) started out the game on fire, with first-year pitcher Brittany Pickett setting down the Boilermakers (1-6) in order to open the game.
Sophomore Destiny DeBerry got the Tar Heel offense going in the bottom frame, hitting a triple to lead off. Fellow sophomore Leah Murray doubled her home in the next at-bat, and an RBI groundout from junior Kendra Lynch followed by another RBI double from sophomore Katie Bailiff gave UNC an early 3-0 lead.
UNC scratched across two more runs in the bottom of the third inning. After two quick outs to start the frame, sophomore Berlynne Delamora walked and Lynch singled to put runners on first and second. Bailiff singled in a run and Pickett punched a grounder at the shortstop, who bobbled it for an error, to score another.
Purdue’s offense failed to get anything going throughout the game, as Pickett held them in check down the stretch with a good mix of locations and pitch types to keep the Boilermakers on edge. She ended the game by putting Purdue down in order in the top of the seventh to seal the win.
Who stood out?
Pickett was a beast in the circle for the Tar Heels. She struck out nine while only giving up four hits on the day en route to her third win of the season and her second complete game.
Delamora didn’t get a hit in the game, but she didn’t make an out, either. She walked four times in total, keeping the Tar Heels at the plate and resulting in two runs, one for herself and one for pinch runner Micaela Abbatine.
