University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Longwood
Tar Heels Blast Past The Lancers In Midweek Doubleheader
April 9, 2015 | Softball
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The long ball was the weapon of choice for the Tar Heels in their midweek doubleheader against Longwood on Wednesday, as they took both games by scores of 7-5 and 9-1, hitting five home runs.
Game One
The Tar Heels came out and had an uncharacteristic sloppy first inning in the field, committing two errors that allowed three Lancers to score.
Lauren Walker put Carolina on the scoreboard with a solo home run to centerfield in the bottom of the second. Darby Rosen belted a solo shot of her own in the third to make it a one run game.
Longwood added another run in the fourth on a Casey Lifsey sacrifice fly to bring its lead to two.
The tide turned in UNC's favor in the fifth after Longwood starting pitcher Elizabeth McCarthy walked Dani Garcielita and hit Taylor Wike with a pitch. Wike and Garcielita each stole second and third to put themselves in scoring position. Aquilla Mateen then doubled through the left side to bring Garcielita home and Kristen Brown followed with a double of her own to bring in two more runs to give Carolina a 5-4 advantage.
The Lancers managed to tie the game in the top of the seventh after Chelsea Sciacca singled through the left side. Garcielita threw a bullet from left field to home but Justina Augustine just got around the tag by catcher Amber Parrish to score from second.
Brown gave UNC a base runner in the bottom of the inning after the Longwood second baseman and shortstop collided going after an infield pop fly. Parrish then stepped into the batters box and blasted a two-run walk-off dinger to give Carolina the win.
Kaylee Carlson threw all seven innings in the circle, striking out four in the victory.
Game Two
The Tar Heels picked up exactly where they left off as Amber Parrish sent a Jenna Carnes pitch into the trees beyond the fence in left field for a two-run home run.
Parrish smashed another two-run blast in the third to make it a 4-0 UNC lead.
Megan Baltzell hit a solo shot in the fourth for what would be the only Longwood run of game two.
Taylor Wike picked up an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth to bump the UNC lead back up to four.
Carolina put the game away in the sixth with four runs on five hits. Aquilla Mateen and Kristen Brown each tallied RBI singles and Jillian Ferraro brought a run home on a sacrifice fly. Jenna Kelly singled to centerfield to bring home Mateen to give UNC a 9-1 lead, ending the game.
Sydney Matzko took the win in the circle, throwing all six innings, striking out seven while allowing just two hits.
The Tar Heels are back in action this weekend against Georgia Tech for their final home ACC series of the season.
