University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC Resumes Road Trip At Radford Tuesday
April 11, 2011 | Softball
April 11, 2011
CHAPEL HILL -- Winners of four straight ACC series, North Carolina resumes their five-game road trip Tuesday traveling to Radford for a 4 p.m. tilt. Carolina is 26-15 overall and 9-3 in the ACC entering a busy week. The Tar Heels host UNC Greensboro Wednesday before heading south for a league showdown at Georgia Tech this weekend.
The Tar Heels are currently second in the ACC with a 9-3 league mark behind only Georgia Tech (8-1 ACC). Carolina will play two of their final three ACC series on the road beginning at Georgia Tech this weekend. The Tar Heels will make a trip back to Atlanta, Ga., for the ACC Tournament May 13-15.
Radford is 25-13 entering Tuesday's contest against North Carolina. UNC split a pair of meetings with the Highlanders a year ago and own a 13-1 advanatage in the series. Nichole Beall leads Radford at the plate with a .343 batting average and Jackie Jensen paces the Higlanders in the circle with a 10-1 record and 1.23 ERA.
UNC Greensboro is 17-21 heading into Wednesday's contest against UNC. The Tar Heels defeated the Spartans 5-1 a year ago and twice this fall in exhibition action.
Noting the Week of April 6-10
• North Carolina bounced back from two tough defeats by a combined three runs with a pair of emphatic victories over rival NC State. The Tar Heels pounded the Wolfpack 10-2 Saturday and claimed the series with a 6-0 win Sunday.
• The Tar Heels snapped out an 18-inning scoring drought this week manufactuing 16 runs on 21 hits in the final two games of the NC State series. UNC notched six home runs, including three in the series finale win over the Wolfpack.
• Senior Brittany McKinney uncorked two home runs and five RBI en route to posting a 1.100 slugging percentage on the week. The Clemmons, N.C., native added stellar defense behind the plate rifling down a pair of potential base stealers. McKinney's three-run shot Sunday sealed a series win over the Wolfpack.
• Sophomore Elisha Elliott led UNC with a .455 batting average on the week. Elliott collected five hits in her first eight at-bats last week. The Lexington, N.C., native also posted six assists in three starts at second base.
• Sara Buchholz continued to impress as of late in the circle earning her third straight ACC win Saturday. The freshman scattered seven hits and allowed just two runs to even the series Saturday at NC State. The Miami, Fla., product is 3-0 with a 1.94 ERA in ACC play.
• After collecting just two runs of support in three consective losses in the circle, Lori Spingola twirled her eighth complete-game shutout of the year Sunday in a 6-0 win at NC State. Spingola tossed a two-hit shutout to earn her 20th win of the season. The freshman is now just seven wins shy of the single season school record for wins (27).
• Kelli Wheeler walloped her third leadoff home run of the year Sunday in the win at NC State. Wheeler, who leads Carolina in almost every statistical batting category, cranked her 10th home run of the season. The junior owns a .429 batting average, five home runs, a .913 slugging percentage and .523 on-base percentage in 12 league games this season.
• Freshman Jordan Scarboro mashed her first career home run Saturday in a 10-2 win at NC State. Ally Blake and Haleigh Dickey also posted their eighth and ninth home runs, respectively, on the year.
