University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Wrap Up Fall With Pair Of Wins
October 7, 2008 | Softball
Oct. 7, 2008
The North Carolina softball team closed out the fall portion of its schedule over the weekend as the Tar Heels claimed narrow victories over UNC Greensboro and Charlotte. The Tar Heels made the trip to Charlotte on Sunday and came away with a 1-0 win over UNC Greensboro in eight innings to get the day off on the right foot before closing out Charlotte 2-1 in the final game of the fall season. Carolina is coming off the most successful season in school history in which the Tar Heels posted a 50-12 overall record.
In the opener the Tar Heels received a dominant performance from freshman pitcher Constance Orr who struck out seven while throwing eight shutout innings. Orr allowed five hits and walked a batter during her eight scoreless frames. The defense came to Orr's rescue in the top of the eighth when the Tar Heels turned a double play to neutralize the scoring threat in the top half. With a Spartan runner being placed on second due to the international tiebreak rule, a grounder was hit to Alyssa Francona at third who fired to first for the first out before first baseman Stephanie Murad relayed the ball back to third where shortstop Christine Knauer was waiting to apply the tag for the second out.
The Tar Heel offense was held in check through the opening seven innings before the Tar Heels were able to push the winning run across in the bottom half of the eighth. Leah Francona was placed on second thanks to the tiebreaker rule and was immediately moved to third base thanks to a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Dani Manko. Breanna Brown would step to the plate looking for the game-winning RBI and delivered it when she hit a hard ball to second that Francona was able to race home and score on giving the Tar Heels the 1-0 win. Christine Knauer and Dani Manko each recorded hits in the win for Carolina.
The Tar Heels saw a familiar site in game two that they witnessed a majority of the time during the 2008 season. A long ball and solid pitching helped propel the Tar Heels to a 6-0 fall season as Carolina posted a 2-1 win over Charlotte. Both teams were held scoreless through the opening five innings before Carolina was the first to strike in the top of the sixth. Knauer led off the top of the sixth with a single to left and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Brown. A fly out would put two outs on the board before Alyssa Francona stepped to the plate. Francona turned on a 2-2 change up and sent the ball over the centerfield fence to put Carolina ahead 2-0. Lisa Norris would close out the complete game performance allowing just one run on five hits. Brittany Robinson, Brittany McKinney and Whitney Allen all chipped in hits for the Tar Heels.
