UNC softball tops UNC-Charlotte in extra innings

Entering Wednesday evening’s game against UNC-Charlotte, the North Carolina softball team had won five of its past six games. 

At D.L Phillips Softball Complex in Charlotte, UNC (23-19) stayed hot, defeating Charlotte 8-5 in an eight-inning affair.

The Tar Heels opened the scoring in the top of the first inning when a pair of two-out RBI singles by Kristen Brown and Lauren Fuller gave UNC an early 2-0 lead.

“Any time when you’re on the road you want to score runs and score first,” Coach Donna Papa said. “That was huge for us.”

After Charlotte (24-17) quickly evened the score at 2 with Haley Pace’s two-run home run, UNC pitcher Kendra Lynch escaped further damage in the bottom of the first inning, stranding two 49ers on base and keeping the score tied.

“It was important to not let the inning get bigger than it needed to be,” Lynch said. “To not let them score any more and play it like a zero-zero game and not let them get any more runs.”

In the top of the third inning, Brown broke the deadlock with another two-out RBI single, scoring Taylor Wike and giving the Tar Heels a 3-2 lead.

North Carolina’s lead lasted until the bottom of the fourth inning, when Emma Ocker singled home Alex Paulson with two outs, leveling the game at 3.

In the top of the sixth inning, UNC struck back. Brown doubled to lead off the inning and eventually scored on Fuller’s second RBI single. Two batters later, Fuller scored off Tracy Chandless’ RBI double, boosting the Tar Heels’ lead to 5-3 by end of the frame.

Down to their last strike against Lynch, the 49ers answered in the bottom of the seventh inning on Taylar Byrne’s bases-loaded two-run single to tie the game at 5 and force extra innings.

But UNC answered back in extra innings when Destiny DeBerry drove in the go-ahead run with a single. After Wike’s RBI sacrifice fly, Lynch punctuated the rally with an RBI double, driving home Aquilla Mateen to extend the Tar Heels' lead to 8-5.

Then, Lynch finished strong, retiring the Charlotte in the bottom of the eighth inning to close out an 8-5 UNC victory.

Quotable

“The second half of the season, we’re a different team, we’re a fighting team. Now we’re fighting all the way through and winning these games.” — Brown on the resiliency North Carolina showed after losing a seventh-inning lead.

Notable

Brown led the Tar Heels at the plate, going 4-for-4 with 2 RBIs and a double. The two-time All-ACC first-team shortstop extended her team lead in RBIs to 44 for the season. No other player on the team has more than 26 RBIs.

Three numbers that matter

0: The Tar Heels committed zero errors over the course of the game

8: North Carolina batters recorded eight hits with runners in scoring position over 16 at-bats. Charlotte only had two hits with runners in scoring position over nine at-bats.

11: Against Lynch, the 49ers left 11 runners on base. Charlotte stranded multiple runners in the first, fourth, sixth and seventh innings.

What’s next?

The Tar Heels next travel to Charlottesville, Va., for a three-game series at Virginia. The series will open with a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

sports@dailytarheel.com