As Florida State’s Jahni Kerr stepped up to the plate in the sixth inning of Sunday’s game against UNC, “Another One Bites The Dust” by Queen played in the background.
Tar Heel pitcher Lilli Backes had just fanned Michaela Edenfield for the first out of the inning, and the audio technicians in the North Carolina press booth had started to celebrate by playing the taunting song.
They might’ve celebrated too soon.
On the very first pitch of Kerr’s at-bat, the song faded as she lifted a pitch over UNC’s navy blue fence.
Just like the steady, incessant baseline of the Queen song, the repetitive thwack! of Seminole home runs rang throughout Anderson Stadium this weekend, as the series ended in a 9-2 loss for UNC.
Ultimately, nine of FSU’s 12 runs in this series came as a result of the long ball, and the Seminoles recorded five total home runs on the weekend. Four of these bombs came on Sunday, behind the bats of Mack Leonard, Kalei Harding — who hit two — and Kerr.
“Today was the only day that we weren’t, pitching-wise, as solid as we had been Friday and Saturday,” head coach Donna J. Papa said. “Florida State’s an excellent team so they capitalized on that.”
Despite ultimately dropping the series to the Seminoles, UNC proved they could contend with the ranked competition.
On Saturday, Backes allowed three hits and one run in the entire game, helping UNC secure the 5-1 win. In Friday’s game, in which UNC fell 2-0, North Carolina’s Hannah George battled in the circle, holding FSU scoreless for most of the game.