The North Carolina softball team (31-13, 9-8 ACC) bested the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (26-16, 10-7 ACC), 8-7, in game two of the Saturday afternoon doubleheader at Anderson Softball Stadium.
UNC started strong, recovering from the 2-8 loss in game one by going 1-2-3 in the first inning. A wild pitch in the bottom of the first allowed junior left fielder Lexie Roberts to advance to second after her initial base hit. A single up the middle from senior right fielder Alex Coleman brought her in.
“We talked about in between games how we need to fix [our mentality],” head coach Megan Smith Lyon said. “We have to be fighters and we have to be resilient, and we showed that in game two.”
It continued to not be North Carolina’s day. Georgia Tech struck back with a perfectly hit home run ball over the center field wall. The homer brought the score to 2-1 in favor of the Yellow Jackets.
UNC, who entered the game leading the ACC in batting average, continued an uncharacteristic streak of poor plate performances. The Tar Heels failed to get on base in the bottom of the second. Two walks gave them some life in the third, but North Carolina fell flat.
The fourth was an inning of poor fielding for the Tar Heels. A missed pop fly gave up a Georgia Tech double, which set the Yellow Jackets up to score after a fumbled catch just past first base. An out-of-reach grounder brought another run in. Soon, the Tar Heels lagged behind 4-1.
UNC was tired and falling behind fast. Georgia Tech stole second base. The Yellow Jackets piled it on with a three run homer snuck under the scoreboard in left field.
Junior Kenna Raye Dark’s day was over after that, with sophomore Nikki Harris coming in relief. A line out finally ended the inning. Georgia Tech held the 7-1 advantage, with UNC nearing mercy-rule territory.
“[Dark] works all the players down,” Harris said. “So for me to be able to come in, I wanted to make sure that I kept my ball high so that they were seeing something completely different and were caught off guard.”