University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
East Carolina
No. 12 Tar Heels Claim 22nd Straight
April 21, 2009 | Softball
April 21, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - An RBI single by Brittany Robinson in the second inning propelled the No. 12 North Carolina softball team to its 22nd straight win Tuesday night as the Tar Heels claimed a 1-0 win over East Carolina (34-12). Danielle Spaulding and Lisa Norris combined on the shutout as Spaulding improved to 19-2 on the season and Norris notched her third save of the year. Carolina will return to action Wednesday when they host Charlotte in the final regular season home game of the year.
The teams each put a runner on with two outs in the first inning but both starting pitchers delivered strikeouts to end the threat as Toni Paisley and Danielle Spaulding started their pitcher's duel off on the right foot.
Spaulding faced the minimum in the second despite giving up a single before her offense picked her up in the bottom half. Brittany McKinney battled Paisley to a full count before drawing a base on balls to get a one-out rally going.
Ally Blake laced a ball to third base that was quickly fired to second to cut down McKinney before Stephanie Murad jumped all over a Paisley offering for a double in the left field gap putting runners on second and third with two outs.
ritanny Robinson came to the plate and hit a ball to the right side of the infield that was stabbed on a diving play by Charina Sumner who attempted to flip the ball to first for the out but a hustling Robinson beat the throw allowing Blake to score from third and give Carolina a 1-0 lead.
Spaulding struck out the side in the third and tallied two more in the fourth the final which started a double play. The junior left-hander issued a leadoff walk to Sumner and then struck out the next batter in the fourth before setting Cristen Aona down on a swinging third strike while McKinney connected with shortstop Christine Knauer to cut down the stealing runner to end the inning and Spaulding's day in the circle.
Lisa Norris came on in the fifth and delivered a 1-2-3 inning for the Tar Heels putting the Carolina bats back to the plate in a hurry. Knauer started things off with a one-out single to left field before Breanna Brown laced a single past the third baseman putting a pair of runners on. A fly ball by Spaulding to deep right center allowed the pair to move up a base for Whitney Allen who was issued an intentional walk. The Tar Heels were unable to unload the bases as an infield pop up by Emily Troup ended the threat and kept the score at 1-0.
A pair of strikeouts and a pop out to second was Norris' work in the sixth before she retired the side in order in the seventh for her third save of the year and 10th of her career, tying Crystal Cox's career mark.
Spaulding earned the win going four innings allowing just the one hit and a pair of walks while striking out nine. Norris was just as impressive not allowing a hit in her three innings of work while notching four strikeouts of her own.
Carolina extends its NCAA-leading win streak to 22 games as the Tar Heels look to make it 23 on Wednesday when they host Charlotte in a single contest at 6 p.m.
