UNC gets satisfaction in 5th

The man with the music selection left after the fourth inning of Wednesday’s game, so for the rest of the game, the only song blaring through the UNC Softball Complex was the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”

Ironic, really, because it was through the first four innings that North Carolina coach Donna Papa truly got no satisfaction from her team.

Thanks to a sudden offensive surge in the bottom of the fifth, however, the Tar Heels rallied for a 4-3 win against UNC-Wilmington to seal a two-game sweep.

SOFTBALL UNC-W 3 UNC 4 UNC-W 0 UNC 2

“I wasn’t really happy at that point,” Papa said. “They didn’t have as much desire as Wilmington did.”

UNC pitcher Crystal Cox, who started the first game of the doubleheader, didn’t allow a hit through the first 5 2/3 innings she pitched.

And while pinch-hitter Meghan Murray ended Cox’s bid for a perfect game with a single to right, the Tar Heels (32-23) scraped together enough offense for a 2-0 win.

“She was on,” Papa said. “You just hate to see that go down the tubes.”

It looked as though North Carolina would bury the Seahawks (20-37) early in the second game, but third baseman Erica Ennis went down swinging with the bases loaded to end the threat.

Several other missed opportunities — as well as two costly errors — prompted Papa to gather her team before the bottom of the fifth.

“She said we all needed to realize that we needed to put more effort in and that as of right then, we weren’t playing like we wanted to win the game,” said left fielder Marissa May.

It worked. May led off the inning with an uncharacteristic fly ball to left, but the ball hit the foul line and rolled far enough from the infield to allow her to get to second.

Shortstop Anna Evans followed with a sharp ground ball that the UNC-W third baseman couldn’t handle, which set up a double steal to score May.

Two batters later, catcher Whitney Gelin — who hit a solo home run in the first game — gave the Tar Heels the lead with a blast over the right-field fence.

From there, relief pitcher Alison Yin slammed the door, striking out five of the seven batters she faced in the final two innings.

“Alison is very confident,” Gelin said. “I just knew she could do it. She focuses, and she brings it.”

The win allowed the Tar Heels to close out the home portion of their schedule on a positive note, but it also gave them confidence as they travel to Maryland this weekend.

“Certainly, I would have liked to have come out and scored more runs, but we did two good things,” Papa said. “We had the lead in the first game and kept it, and in the second game, we were down and we came back and won.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.