7-run inning lifts Tar Heels past Phoenix

The North Carolina softball team rode a seven-run sixth inning to pull away from Elon in a 12-6 victory at Hunt Softball Park on Wednesday. The win came in the Tar Heels’ final game before conference play, which will kick off when UNC takes on Syracuse on Saturday.

The Tar Heels (10-10) opened the scoring in the top of the first inning, as pitcher Kendra Lynch helped her own cause with an RBI single.

Elon (8-11) leveled the score with a Jenna Reilly RBI single in the bottom of the second, but Taylor Wike gave North Carolina a 2-1 lead with a solo home run to right field to lead off the top of the third inning.

But UNC’s lead did not last long. Elon added four runs over its next three innings, only one of them earned, giving the Phoenix a 5-2 lead heading into the sixth inning.

In the frame, the Tar Heel bats finally got the hits they needed. After Jill Ferraro’s sacrifice fly cut the Elon lead to two, Katie Bailiff came through with a pinch-hit, 3-RBI double to right-center, giving UNC a 6-5 lead.

“Everybody on the team could do that,” Bailiff said. “I saw the outside pitch and was just thinking to myself, ‘I’ve got to drive it to right field.’”

North Carolina closed out the top of the sixth with a Lynch sacrifice fly and two more RBI singles, giving UNC seven runs in the frame and handing Lynch a 9-5 lead to work with.

The Tar Heels added three more runs in the seventh inning while Lynch finished the job on the mound, giving North Carolina a 12-6 comeback win and improving her record to 8-7 on the season.

“A win’s a win, and it wasn’t necessarily our prettiest one,” Coach Donna Papa said. “But it was a comeback win, and that says a lot about our team.”

Quotable

“We see this as a fresh start — a new season — starting conference play. I think everybody is ready to start competing, and we’d like to take home the ACC title this year.” — Lynch on the team’s attitude heading into conference play.

Notable

The win at Elon gave UNC its first true road victory of the season. The Tar Heels had won on a neutral site, but UNC had lost its first four road games of the season. North Carolina will play 17 more road games during conference play.

3 numbers that matter

12: North Carolina sent 12 batters to the plate in the sixth inning. The Tar Heels scored seven runs on four hits in the frame.

5: Wike reached base in all five of her plate appearances. The sophomore scored three runs and added an RBI.

4: Of Elon’s six runs scored, four were unearned.

What’s next?

UNC opens ACC play with a three-game home series against Syracuse. The series will start off with a doubleheader Saturday at Anderson Softball Stadium at 1 p.m.

sports@dailytarheel.com