North Carolina softball finishes season-opening weekend with a 3-1 record

The North Carolina softball team kicked off its 2018 season this weekend by winning three of four games at the UCF Friends of Jaclyn Invitational in Florida. 

Butler

The Tar Heels kicked off the season on Saturday morning with a 7-4 victory over the Butler Bulldogs.

UNC jumped out to an early lead by scoring three runs in the first inning after blanking the Bulldogs in the first half of the inning. 

Butler responded with a three-run inning of its own in the third inning to tie the score at 3-3. The Bulldogs then took their first lead of the day in the fourth when sophomore Alyssa Garcia scored on a sacrifice fly to left field. 

North Carolina answered in the bottom of the inning, however, as sophomore Brittany Pickett hit a two-run home run, and the Tar Heels took a 5-4 lead.

UNC would only add to this lead and scored two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. No more runs were scored and the Tar Heels won by a score of 7-4. 

Louisville

The Tar Heels built on their successful season opener later in the day as they defeated the Louisville Cardinals, 2-0.

The game was scoreless through the first four innings as neither team could get its offense going. However, UNC was able to score the only two runs of the game in the top of the fifth inning.

Brittany Pickett was walked with the bases loaded to bring junior Leah Murray in to score from third. In the next at-bat, Louisville pitcher Megan Hensley threw a wild pitch that allowed North Carolina first-year Sierra Parkinson to score and give the Tar Heels a two-run lead.

Brittany Pickett would hold the Cardinals scoreless for the entire game as UNC gained its second win of the day. 

Providence

North Carolina lost for the first time all weekend on Sunday to the Providence Friars, 2-1.

After a scoreless first two innings, the Friars drew first blood as junior Vanessa Portillo singled home junior Emma Lee to give Providence a 1-0 lead.

The Tar Heels would respond in the bottom of the inning as senior Taylor Wike hit a single up the middle to bring home Leah Murray.

Vanessa Portillo would hurt UNC again in the fifth. She hit a flyout to center field that was deep enough to score sophomore Mackensie Compton. 

Providence shut down North Carolina from scoring anymore as the team finished off a 2-1 victory.

“We just couldn’t put the runs on the board for the Providence game,” UNC head coach Donna Papa said. “But I’m really proud of what they did, personally and then how the team responded.”

UCF

UNC topped the UCF Knights 2-0 in eight innings to conclude its four-game weekend. 

Neither side could score through the first seven innings. In fact, UCF was held to only two hits throughout the entire game. As a result, the game headed to extra innings.

In the top of the eighth, the Tar Heels scored their first runs. Sierra Parkinson singled to left field and redshirt first-year Kristina Burkhardt scored on the play, due to an error on the play. North Carolina struck again when Brittany Pickett singled to right field to score Leah Murray.

“I thought in the game against Central Florida we played outstanding defense,” Papa said. “We were in the game the whole time. It was a really hard fought game, and we wound up scoring at the end which capped off a great weekend.”

The Tar Heels closed out their weekend with a 3-1 record, including three wins from pitcher Brittany Pickett.

“To open up your first weekend 3-1 on the road is a sign of good things,” Papa said. 

UNC next plays on Wednesday, Feb. 14 as the team takes on Elon University in Elon, NC.   

@ballermike28

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com