It could have happened again.
It could have abruptly unraveled for the North Carolina softball team with one error. It happened last Saturday in Tallahassee, when failure to communicate on a harmless fly ball led to a big Florida State inning and a 9-1 romp for the Seminoles.
It nearly happened again Friday night in front of a capacity crowd at Anderson Stadium. With one out, a runner on first and her team leading Virginia Tech 3-2, UNC third baseman Constance Orr botched a routine bunt, the ball slipping under her glove.
Two on. One out. And another recipe for disappointment.
But UNC ace Lori Spingola saved her best for last, striking out consecutive Hokie batters to end the game and lift the Tar Heels to a win in the first stanza of this weekend’s three-game series.
Spingola was far from flawless, her late-game heroics notwithstanding. The junior right-hander allowed two home runs to VT third baseman Amanda Ake, the second of which was a titanic blast that nestled into a tangle of trees beyond the left-field fence.
But the Tar Heels kept pace with Ake’s pyrotechnics thanks to some refreshingly timely hitting. Friday night, the UNC found exactly what coach Donna Papa has been cajoling her team to do — hit “productively.”
It started rather inauspiciously in the fourth inning, when leftfielder Amy Nece worked a two-out walk. Jenna Kelly took advantage of the extended frame, tucking a two-run homer over the left field fence to give UNC a 2-1 lead.
After Ake’s second round-tripper tied the game at 2-2, the Tar Heels struck again with timely two-out production. This time it was designated hitter Haleigh Dickey in the bottom of the fifth, who launched a low fastball from VT starting pitcher Kelly Heinz to deep center to regain UNC’s lead.
Spingola would seal the one-run victory from there. She worked around a one-out single in the top of the sixth and Orr’s error in the top of the 7th, finishing with six strikeouts and her team-leading 15th win.
It could have happened again. But Spingola made sure it didn’t.
NOTES: North Carolina basketball players Joel James and Brice Johnson attended Friday night’s game. James snared a foul ball with his right hand late in the game as Johnson appeared to duck out of the way. As James triumphantly held the ball in the air for the cheering crowd to see, a young girl shouted, “But you’re a basketball player!”
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