Whether it was the rain or the need to catch a plane, the North Carolina softball team couldn’t quite fit in its three-game series against Syracuse this weekend — but that didn’t stop the Tar Heels from leaving the Empire State on a positive note.
After dropping the series opener on Saturday, UNC had a turnaround performance on Sunday, winning 11-10 in extra innings to earn a series split against the Orange. Eight Tar Heels had a hit in the game as North Carolina scored first and never trailed, despite three multi-run innings from Syracuse.
“It took the whole village to get it done today,” head coach Donna Papa said.
UNC scored in the top of the first inning and would hold a 4-0 lead until the bottom of the fifth, when the Orange tallied four runs. UNC rallied in the top of seventh for three runs, but Syracuse struck back in the bottom frame to get three runs of its own to tie the game at 7-7 and force extra innings.
First-year Brittany Pickett pitched six innings on Saturday and was in her seventh of Sunday's first game when she gave up the tying runs.
“It’s not like it’s expected, but I have to know to be ready,” Pickett said of making back-to-back starts. “They caught on to my bad mistakes that happened.”
Papa said that Pickett has been the team's go-to all year in the circle and earned the right to be out there, but she knew the team needed a different look late in the game.
UNC turned to senior Kendra Lynch, who threw a scoreless frame in the eighth to set up UNC’s rally, when the Tar Heels snagged four runs in the top of ninth. But Syracuse’s bats weren’t ready to quit, as the Orange scored two runs and put runners on the corners with nobody out.
Lynch responded with a double play on a grounder back to her. The hit brought in one Syracuse runner but cleared the bases. Lynch then got the final ground out to seal the game.
