UNC softball falls flat in final two home games

In its final home games of the season, the North Carolina softball team and No. 14 James Madison University combined for 27 hits through 12 innings. But the Tar Heels only claimed nine of those hits as the Dukes swept them in a midweek doubleheader.

UNC (36-15) was blown out in a 8-0 loss in five innings in the second leg, and the opening game slipped away from the Tar Heels in a 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Dukes.

“We put ourselves in a position to win, but we unfortunately didn’t deliver,” head coach Donna Papa said.

“All that we needed was a hit or two to win the game.”

Junior Megan Good led the Dukes (41-6) off in the top of the first inning with a home run over left field to capture the early 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the first inning, senior Kendra Lynch responded with a line-drive bomb over the right-field wall to tie the game.

First-year Brittany Pickett followed suit an inning later, as she sent the ball deep over center field to give North Carolina what seemed to be strong momentum. But heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, trailing 4-3, the Tar Heels had a total of four hits in comparison to the Dukes’ nine.

After three straight singles by North Carolina, the bases were loaded with zero outs and it seemed the Tar Heels would be able to close out the game. Two straight strikeouts by Good left Pickett at the plate with the weight of the game on her shoulders.

Although Pickett was able to ship a ball into the trees five innings earlier, she hit an easy pop-up to the third baseman to end the game with three runners left on base. In the end, nine Tar Heels were stranded on base.

The second game of the day provided an opportunity for the Tar Heels to bounce back and get a win, but the enthusiasm was obviously lacking from the performance shown at the plate.

North Carolina’s two lone hits of the game came in the third and fourth innings, but that was not enough to even score a run, as five Tar Heels struck out at the plate and four runners were left on base.

“Our energy was low in the second game and we came out flat,” Lynch said. “We needed to be just as excited about the second game as we were for the first game.”

Although North Carolina was swept at home during its final two games of the regular season, Papa chose to focus on the fight and resiliency of her team.

“I’m excited going forward,” she said, “because we’ve got the opportunity to really see what we’re made of.”

@jordymae012  

sports@dailytarheel.com