University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Stanford
Spaulding Dominates No. 10 Stanford As Heels Win, 3-0
March 6, 2010 | Softball
March 6, 2010
Fullerton, Calif. --- Senior pitcher Danielle Spaulding pitched a masterful game for the No. 20 (14-3) North Carolina Tar Heels in a 3-0 win over the No. 10 (14-3) Stanford Cardinal. Spaulding dominated the Cardinal hitters, striking out 18 and carrying a perfect game into the seventh inning. Carolina now has four wins in the DeMarini Invitational and 13 straight this season.
The 18 strikeouts is the second most in the history of UNC Softball, set by Spaulding herself last year against Campbell when she tallied 19 punch-outs.
Carolina attacked Stanford early with Dani Manko singling and Danielle Spaulding hitting a double to left center advancing Manko to third base. Anna Roberts would bring in both runners on a single and give the Tar Heels an early 2-0 lead against Stanford pitcher Teagan Gerhart, who had shut out No. 3 Florida yesterday.
Carolina struck again in the fourth inning, starting when Brittany Robinson led off the inning with a walk. Anna Roberts sacrificed bunted Robinson advancing her to second. The next batter, Constance Orr, hit a ball over the first base bag scoring Robinson to give the Tar Heels a 3-0 lead.
Danielle Spaulding entered the seventh inning with a perfect game. In Spaulding's illustrious career she has crafted six no-hitters with only one being on a perfect game (vs. Virginia, 5/8/08).
The perfect game ended when the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the seventh, Alissa Haber, hit a slow ground ball to the shortstop and hustled down the line to get first base. Spaulding would go on to strike out the next two batters and pop-out the third to center field to win the game for the Tar Heels.
The win gives Danielle Spaulding seven on the season. The 18 strikeouts gives Spaulding now 106 on the year.
Carolina now has a winning record against ranked opponents at 3-2.
Carolina takes the field against Loyola Marymount at 2:15 p.m. EST in the Tar Heels' final game of the DeMarini Invitational. The Tar Heels are undefeated so far in the DeMarini Invitational, winning four straight games.
