A strong start to the season saw the North Carolina softball team jump out to a 5-3 record and collect two wins against Michigan, who was ranked No. 17 at the time. However, the Tar Heels have stumbled of late, going 1-5 in the six games after their dismantling of the Wolverines.
On a three-game losing streak with a record two games below .500, UNC needed wins and needed them badly.
The victories came on day three of the Carolina Classic when the Tar Heels beat both FAU and Maryland handily in a doubleheader. The Tar Heels beat Florida Atlantic, 6-2, and toppled the Terrapins, 11-5. The wins were huge for team morale and pulled their record back to an even 8-8.
The action against FAU started slowly with both teams scoreless after five innings. In the top of the sixth, the Owls took the lead after scoring two runs. With their backs against the wall, the Tar Heels needed a big inning, or they would see their losing streak stretch to four games. UNC responded with a six-run explosion in the bottom of the sixth.
“We had some rough games,” head coach Donna Papa said. “In this first game we were down again, and then that big inning gave us our momentum and confidence back. I felt like we were swinging the bat well in practice, but not translating it to the game. After that big inning, I felt like the girls thought ‘yeah we can do this.’”
First-year Hannah George added two runs for UNC after a two-run single that put UNC up, 4-2. A couple of FAU miscues stretched the Tar Heels’ lead to four runs before the start of the seventh inning. After striking out the Owls at the top of the final inning, the game was set in stone, and the Tar Heels turned their sights to the Terrapins.
UNC kept building momentum after storming out of the gate against Maryland with a three-run second inning and a five-run third inning. Up 8-0 at the top of the fourth, it looked like the Tar Heels were potentially on the verge of a mercy rule. However, Maryland went yard on a three-run home run and tacked on two additional runs to make the game a close 8-5 heading into the fifth.
The Tar Heels responded by holding the Terrapins scoreless in the inning and notching three more runs to extend their lead to 11-5. The two teams traded stops the rest of the way, and UNC came out victorious after the top of the seventh.
“With the way we were hitting the ball, base running and doing what we were doing, I just think we had really good confidence, momentum and energy,” Papa said. “We brought Hannah (George) in, and she did her job. We only had two innings to close, and she did her thing on the mound to finish it out.”
