University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Nevada
UNC Takes One, Competes With No. 2 Oregon On Saturday
February 8, 2015 | Softball
TEMPE, Ariz. – The Tar Heels showed true grit throughout the second day of the Kajikawa Classic on Saturday, topping Nevada 9-0 and fighting tooth and nail with No. 2 ranked Oregon in a 8-5 loss.
“I loved how we competed”, said NFCA Hall of Fame Coach Donna J. Papa of her team. “I thought we played in the moment like we asked the girls to do and they just competed really hard and I feel like we grew up as a team today. Just so many good things to look forward to but it's something we've been working on and talking about and I feel like we actually collectively played as a team today.”
Amber Parrish and Tracy Chandless both posted four RBIs for the day with Kristen Brown adding three of her own to go along with two hits.
Game One vs. Nevada
Freshman Sydney Matzko took the pitchers' circle for the first start of her Carolina career. She would give up a single and a walk along with two illegal pitches before the Torrington, Conn. native would take control for the remainder of the game. By the end of the contest she would allow only two hits while fanning six
UNC would explode for nine runs in the third, capitalizing on Nevada misplays in the field. Jenna Kelly would enter the game as a pinch hitter with the bases loaded, singling to center field to bring in Tracy Chandless from third.
Amber Parrish would be next and continued her stellar weekend at the plate, smashing her second grand slam in as many days. The Tar Heels would bat around the order, allowing Kristen Brown and Chandless to blast two run shots of their own over the wall to seal the win in five innings.
Game Two vs. Oregon
Coming in to Saturday night, No. 2 ranked Oregon had not allowed a run through three games and had not played past the fifth inning.
That changed when they faced the unranked Tar Heels.
Despite falling behind 7-0 after two innings, there was no quit in Papa's squad. The comeback began in the top of the third when Oregon pitcher Karissa Hovinga walked Taylor Wike and gave up a single to Aquilla Mateen. After Amber Parrish popped out, Kristen Brown stepped up to the plate and sent Hovinga's pitch back through the middle, scoring Wike from second. Lauren Walker doubled down the right field line the next at bat, bringing in Mateen. Jenna Kelly would ground out to first base allow Brown to come in and the Tar Heels left the inning down 7-3.
Lauren Fuller replaced Kaylee Carlson in the circle midway through the second inning and contained the Oregon attack. Kendra Lynch was brought in to pitch in the fifth, and combined with Fuller to allow only four Oregon hits through 4.1 innings.
North Carolina chipped two more runs off of the Ducks lead in the sixth when Tracy Chandless laced a double into left center field, scoring Jenna Kelly and Jordan Scarboro.
Oregon would score one more run in the bottom of the sixth to extend their lead to 8-5, where the score would stay for the rest of the game.
Next Up: Carolina closes out their stay at the Kajikawa Classic Sunday with a matchup against Bradley at 11 a.m. ET.
