The UNC softball team (15-10, 2-1 ACC) beat UNC Wilmington (17-4, 0-0 CAA) in a 2-0 shutout victory on Tuesday night at Anderson Softball Stadium.
What happened?
The bottom of the first inning started out with a bang for the Tar Heels. After junior center fielder Bri Stubbs walked to start the inning, senior catcher Taylor Greene lifted a pitch over the left-field fence, putting North Carolina up 2-0.
UNC had a big scoring opportunity in the bottom of the fourth, which saw sophomore left fielder Kiannah Pierce and first-year shortstop Alex Brown reach base on a walk and fielder’s choice, respectively. This put two runners on base with one out; however, UNC ultimately exited the inning with no runs scored after Kiersten Licea struck out and Kianna Jones flew out to UNCW’s Mary Sobataka at shortstop.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, UNC seemed poised to score as junior Katie Perkins stepped into the batter’s box to pinch-hit for Licea. With the bases loaded and one out, Perkins struck out looking. This brought up sophomore right fielder Kayla Baptista with two outs. Baptista grounded out to shortstop, ending North Carolina’s hopes of adding on some insurance runs heading into the seventh inning.
In the top of the seventh, after UNCW went three up three down, North Carolina pulled out the close victory.
Who stood out?
Senior right-handed pitcher Hannah George had herself a night. Pitching the entire game, she earned her first career no-hitter and added seven strikeouts. She also had two walks, which came in the first and second inning. Besides Vitola’s bunt in the sixth inning, every inning after the second saw UNCW’s batters go three up three down thanks to George’s dominance in the circle.
On the offensive end, Greene was the clear standout. Her home run in the bottom of the first allowed UNC to jump out to an early lead, from which UNCW never came back.
