University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Kent State
Tar Heels Take Two On Second Day Of Carolina Classic
February 9, 2008 | Softball
Feb. 9, 2008
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - A record that had stood since 2002 fell twice in the span of 24 hours on Saturday as the North Carolina softball team slugged out 24 runs against NC Central at Anderson Stadium in the Carolina Classic. The Tar Heels broke the school record (18) for runs scored on Friday with 21 against George Washington before setting a new precedent on Saturday with 24 against the Eagles. In the first game of the day, Carolina took down Kent State 6-3 on the back of a three-run homer from Whitney Allen, her second in as many days. The Tar Heels have punched their card for the championships game on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. at Anderson Stadium with a 4-0 mark.
In the first game, UNC jumped out to a 3-0 lead on the back of a three-run round tripper from Whitney Allen. The junior outfielder delivered a shot over the left centerfield fence to give pitcher Lisa Norris some early run support.
Norris would strike out a pair in the top of the third before allowing a leadoff single to start the fourth. The Snellville, Ga. native was able to get out of the jam as she got some fancy glovework from Christine Knauer. The sophomore shortstop grabbed a pop up for the first out and then turned in a double play on the very next pitch as she fielded a grounder up the middle, stepped on second and fired to first for the twin-killing.
The Tar Heel offense would pick up another run in the fourth as Allen drove in her fourth run of the day with a perfect sacrifice fly to center that plated Emily Troup from third. The extra run would come in handy as Kent State closed the deficit to one with a three-run shot of its own from Kim Hamilton who took a pitch from Norris over the left field fence.
Carolina's offense came roaring back with a pair of insurance runs in the fifth as Knauer led off with a single and moved to third after a single from Breanna Brown and a wild pitch put both runners in scoring position for Cassie Palmer. The senior second baseman lifted a pitch to right field that easily scored Knauer from third. Danielle Spaulding followed with a shot back up the middle that made the score 6-3.
Norris would finish the job from there as she went the distance allowing three runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts for her second win of the season. The win was Norris' 40th of her career as she moved into ninth on the Carolina all-time list.
Game One Line
Score by Innings R H E ----------------------------------------- Kent State.......... 000 030 0 - 3 7 1 North Carolina...... 030 120 X - 6 6 1 -----------------------------------------
The bats came to life once again in game two as the Tar Heels tallied 24 runs on 15 hits against NC Central as the Heels pushed themselves into the Carolina Classic title game. Carolina put an eight-spot on the board in the top of the first as it took advantage of a costly pair of Eagle errors. Cassie Palmer, Emily Troup, Sam Ingersoll and Bree Ensminger all picked up RBIs in the inning and senior Ashley Oxendine added a pair with two-run single.
Alyssa Francona delivered a run-scoring double in the second as she laced a hit to the left field fence that Whitney Allen scored from first on to make the score 9-0. Cassie Palmer tallied a two-run double to center in a six-run third inning that lengthened the Tar Heel lead to 15-0 after two and a half innings.
Carolina would add four more runs in the fourth all off the bat of Emily Troup who blasted a pitch to dead center that cleared the fence for a grand slam that gave Carolina a 19-0 advantage. Two more NCCU errors put five more Carolina runs on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth for the final tally of 24-0.
The Tar Heels scored 21 runs in the opening game of the Carolina Classic to break the school record for runs scored of 18 that was set in 2002 against Elon and just over 24 hours later the record was broken again with the two dozen runs scored in the contest.
Freshman pitcher Faith Sutton earned her first victory as a Tar Heel as she threw five innings of shutout ball. Sutton struck out 13 of the 15 outs she needed to record for the shortened complete game.
The Tar Heels will take on the winner of the 10 a.m. semi-final at 12:30 p.m. at Anderson Stadium for the Carolina Classic Championship.
Game Two Line Score
Score by Innings R H E -------------------------------------- North Carolina...... 816 45 - 24 15 0 NC Central.......... 000 00 - 0 3 5 --------------------------------------
