The North Carolina softball team picked up a 5-2 win over UNC-Greensboro at Anderson Softball Stadium on Wednesday evening. Junior Kendra Lynch pitched yet another complete game, giving up two runs and seven hits in her 27th start of the season.
“I feel like the team that we had going into the season is the team that’s been here the last two days,” Coach Donna Papa said. “I think they’re playing with confidence and both of the teams that we beat were on winning streaks. We’ve just had really good performances on the mound from Kendra.”
Senior center fielder Aquilla Mateen was the first Tar Heel (17-17) to reach base after drawing a walk and then stealing second in the first inning. The next batter, sophomore second baseman Taylor Wike, got the offense started for the Tar Heels. Wike hit a 2-run home run to right field, giving UNC a 2-0 lead.
The team tacked on another run in the second inning off a small rally that brought six batters to the plate. First-year infielder Berlynne Delamora led off with a single to left field and was followed by two walks. UNC then gained an unearned run off a Spartans (22-12) throwing error, giving North Carolina a 3-0 lead.
UNCG followed suit with a run of its own in the top of the third inning, cutting North Carolina’s lead in half, but the Tar Heels retaliated with a run in the fourth inning, as Delamora led off with another single and later scored on a sacrifice fly.
The Tar Heels tacked on their final run in the fifth inning with a home run from senior shortstop Kristen Brown, her first in seven games. The Levittown, New York native has hit a team-high 11 home runs this season.
“I think we played well as a team, we’re really feeling good right now, fighting through everything,” Brown said. “Kendra pitched a great game and we’re just seeing the pitches we wanted and hitting them in the right spot.”
A seventh inning home run for UNCG’s Stephanie Bryden was followed by a double and single, but the Spartans’ offensive awakening wasn’t enough to catch up. Wike concluded the game with a diving catch and throw to first for a game-ending double play, possibly saving the team from a Spartans comeback.
“It was exciting, for sure,” Wike said. “I hadn’t done that yet, so that was an exciting moment, especially to end the game like that because they would’ve had two runs on that.”
