University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Softball Monday Notebook
March 28, 2011 | Softball
March 28, 2011
Monday Newsstand
CHAPEL HILL -- Following the first sweep over Florida State in school history, North Carolina will return to action Wednesday traveling to Radford for a doubleheader slated to begin at 3 p.m. from RU Softball Field. The Tar Heels will then host ACC foe Virginia for a three-game series beginning Saturday at 1 p.m. All three games at Anderson Stadium will be available on Carolina All-Access for a FREE webcast.
The Tar Heels swept defeated the Seminoles 1-0 and 3-2 Saturday to sweep the twinbill. Carolina completed the sweep Sunday defeating FSU 4-0 en route to their first ever sweep of the Seminoles in school history. Carolina has now won five of their last six against Florida State.
UNC currently owns the most league victories after two weekends of play with a 5-1 ACC record. Georgia Tech (3-0) and Maryland (2-0) have yet to drop a conference game. The Tar Heels next league opponent Virginia is 0-5 in ACC play in 2011.
Noting the Week of March 23-27
• In six league contests, North Carolina has outscored their opponents 15-6. Four of the six league games have been decided by one run. UNC posts a 3-1 record in those contests. Carolina has now played 13 one-run games this season registering a 7-6 record.
• The freshmen duo of Lori Spingola and Sara Buchholz have combined to post a 1.00 ERA with 23 strikeouts to just 11 walks in conference play. Spingola owns a 0.84 ERA with a 4-1 record in four league starts. The Atlanta, Ga., native a posted a 4-0 record, 0.79 ERA and 20 strikeouts this week.
• At the plate, junior Ally Blake enjoyed a monster week collecting eight hits with six RBI en route to notching a 1.067 slugging percentage. The Concord, N.C., product uncorked a three-run home run in Carolina's 6-1 win over Campbell Wednesday. The junior helped seal UNC's sweep of Florida State with a two-run home run in a 4-0 win.
• Classmate Kelli Wheeler continues to impress at the plate in 2011. Wheeler, who leads Carolina in eight statistical categories, notched a .438 batting average on the week. The Marietta, Ga., native leads UNC with 15 multi-hit games this spring and ranks atop the ACC in batting.
• Sophomore Haleigh Dickey is currently riding a team-best five game hit streak entering this week. The Woodstock, Ga., product leads Carolina with seven home runs and 28 RBI this season.
• Carolina flashed their glove work over the weekend with several dynamic catches in the outfield. Senior Dani Manko, who made a leaping catch into the wall Saturday, prevented the tying run from scoring in a 1-0 series-opening win over Florida State. Freshman Amy Nece added a diving catch in shallow left field to halt a scoring threat in a 3-2 win over FSU. In the infield, shortstop Paige Williams snagged a line drive and rifled to first for a game ending double play in another one-run victory over FSU.
• Sophomore Elisha Elliott posted a hit and RBI in her first career ACC start this weekend. Elliott swiped a pair of bases this week, added a run scored Sunday in another start and played solid defense in right field for the Tar Heels.
• The winngest coach in UNC and ACC softball history, Donna J. Papa earned her 1,000th career win Sunday over Florida State. The coaching milestone has only been accomplished by 10 Division I NCAA coaches. 971 of Papa's 1,000 wins have come at the University of North Carolina.
