North Carolina found itself in a hole early in the game after allowing five runs to the Gamecocks in the first inning and another run in the second, amounting to a 6-0 deficit.
In the bottom of the third, junior first baseman Kiersten Licea hit a sacrifice fly, allowing first-year outfielder Kayla Baptista to score and put the Tar Heels on the board. Though North Carolina began to gain some momentum, they were not able to score for the rest of the matchup.
The Tar Heels were not able to capitalize on some key opportunities throughout the day, closing out two separate innings with the bases loaded.
Fifth-year pitcher and first baseman Brittany Pickett threw a strong eight strikeouts throughout the game, but allowed ten hits and eight total runs to South Carolina. The Tar Heels will take the field in Chapel Hill again against Notre Dame on Friday, March 12 at 6:00 p.m.
Ike Bryant, staff writer
Rowing: Duke 90, Clemson 80, UNC 70
The UNC rowing team opened its season on Saturday at Clemson’s Carolina Cup in Clemson, S.C. — its first event in nearly a year. The Tar Heels finished in third with 70 points, with Clemson coming in second with 80 points and No. 9 Duke taking first place with 90 points.
The first race of the day was the 3V8 with sophomore coxswain Julia Hunt racing leading senior Juliana Micchia, senior Lily Brown, sophomore Tianna Van Cura, first-year Becca Lewis, senior Marion Miller, sophomore Hannah Davis, first-year Molly Hilemn and sophomore Chloe Hyde. The team finished in third with a time of 7:18.9.
In the 1V4, first-year coxswain Lauren Walsh led senior Zoe Rose, junior Sarah Catherine Niles, junior Amelia Locklear and sophomore Jessica Judge. The team finished third with a time of 7:47.9.
The Tar Heels also finished third in the 2V8 and V8. Senior coxswain Ashley Lim led sophomore Taylor Gregitis, sophomore Jackie Wilhelm, first-year Caroline Lammersen, first-year Gigi Maroney, senior Lindsay Miller, senior Sarah Velarde, junior Sydney Tumey and senior Neeva Wernsman Young in the 2V8 to a time of 6:59.5.
In the V8, junior coxswain Lara King led junior Alessandra De Vito, senior Katie McMahon, junior Alexis Levister, sophomore Natalie Timinskas, senior Olivia Curran, junior Amanda Perez, sophomore Ranait Fitzgerald and senior Hannah Fischer to a time of 6:47.2.
The team will travel to Charlottesville, Va. on Friday, March 26 to compete against Tennessee and UCF.
Lindsay Callihan, staff writer
Women's tennis: UNC 7, Florida State 0
In yet another blowout win, the No. 1 North Carolina women’s tennis team (13-0, 4-0 ACC) annihilated No. 5 Florida State (9-3, 4-2 ACC) in Sunday’s matchup, 7-0.
Senior Sara Daavettila and junior Cameron Morra claimed a huge doubles win, defeating the No. 5 team of Victoria Allen and Petra Hule, 6-2. The team of senior Alle Sanford and sophomore Elizabeth Scotty went on to clinch the doubles point with a 6-4 win.
No. 4 Daavettila also did well in singles, taking the seventh and final point of the match with her win over No. 27 Giulia Pairone by a score of 6-2, 1-6, 6-2. The first singles win of the day came from No. 120 first-year Fiona Crawley, who completely swept Hule, 6-0, 6-0. No. 6 Morra took the second singles win with a 6-1, 6-0 demolishing of No. 92 Nandini Das, and the Tar Heels just kept rolling from there, all the way to a shutout win.
This is North Carolina’s 13th dual-match win this season and its 31st consecutive win overall, a feat made more impressive considering the dominant score-lines by which the Tar Heels are beating their opponents.
The Tar Heels will look to continue that solid winning-streak on the road at Clemson on Saturday, March 12 at 4 p.m.
Grace Guin, staff writer
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