University of North Carolina Athletics
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Ohio
UNC Splits On Final Day Of Carolina Classic
February 11, 2007 | Softball
Feb. 11, 2007
Box Score
| Tournament Gallery 
CHAPEL HILL --- North Carolina split a pair of games Sunday afternoon at Anderson Stadium as it closed out play in the Carolina Classic and, with it, the opening weekend of the 2007 softball season. Carolina (2-2) won its first game of the day behind a strong outing from sophomore Amber Johnson, taking a close 3-2 tilt with Ohio. In game two, the Tar Heels fell 11-7 in an offensive slugfest against Penn State in the last game of the tournament.
Game one saw little offensive action early on as the starting pitchers, Johnson for UNC and Natalie Armstrong for Ohio, controlled much of the action. Through three innings, their work in the circle helped the game remain scoreless.
The Bobcats struck first in the bottom of the fourth, opening the inning with a home run to center field. A two-out rally would help Ohio add another run in the frame, as the Bobcats used a single and a double to stake themselves to a 2-0 lead.
The advantage didn't last long - the Tar Heels put together a two-run half inning of their own in their half of the fifth. The rally started with a walk by Theresa Nicholas, who was replaced by Christine Knauer on the basepaths. The move paid immediate dividends as Knauer's speed helped her advance to second on an Ohio error and take third on a wild pitch. A sacrifice fly by second baseman Cassie Palmer gave her an RBI and the Tar Heels their first run of the game.
The Tar Heels would soon tie the game at two as centerfielder Breanna Brown, who had doubled to get on base, came home on a Jennifer Jacobs RBI single.
After a scoreless sixth, the game turned in the top of the seventh with UNC at bat. A clutch, two-out RBI hit by senior shortstop Anna Evans plated Breanna Brown for her second run of the game and gave the Tar Heels a 3-2 lead.
Lisa Norris came on to pitch the bottom half of the seventh and struck out three of the five batters she faced to earn the save. Johnson got her first win of the season, scattering six hits over six innings and giving up just two earned runs.
The second game had a much different feel from the get-go as an offensive outburst out of the gates by Penn State ensured that the game would be no low-scoring affair. Indeed, the Tar Heels and the Nittany Lions ended up combining for 18 runs and 25 hits on the day.
The fireworks started early as Penn State exploded for five runs on five hits against Norris in the top of the first inning, putting the Tar Heels in an early 5-0 hole.
UNC would answer with a big inning of its own in the bottom of the second, though, using three hits and a key Penn State error to score five runs and tie the game.
But a two-run third inning immediately thereafter put the Nittany Lions ahead 7-5, and though the Tar Heels would get as close as 7-6 with a run in the fourth, the Penn State offense managed to tack on three runs in the fifth and another in the seventh to put the game out of reach.
A seventh-inning solo home run by Whitney Gelin over the leftfield fence offered some last-minute hope for the Tar Heels, but Penn State pitcher Jenn Reynolds effectively closed out the win.
Carolina is next in action Wednesday against Elon.
