University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Longwood
Heels Drop Back-And-Forth Battle In Extras
May 22, 2016 | Softball
HARRISONBURG, VA. – On a cold, rain-soaked night, North Carolina softball saw its season come to a close, as the Longwood Lancers came back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Tar Heels, 5-4, in nine innings. The win sends Longwood (40-19) to its first-ever NCAA Regional Final against No. 7 overall seed JMU, while Carolina's 2016 campaign comes to a close at 32-25.
“What a great game for the fans,” said head coach Donna J. Papa. “Both teams showed a lot of resiliency, a lot of grit, and it was going to come down to just one opportunity. We were in a situation where they were in scoring position late and we shut them down. We had some good hits.
“I can't say enough about Kendra and her accomplishments. I'm so proud of the seniors as well. To be where we were halfway through the season and then to make it to where we did with all the adversity that we faced, I couldn't be more proud of a team that I've coached in my 31 years.”
Third baseman Berlynne Delamora finished her rookie season by reaching base all eight times on the final day of the year including five times in Saturday's night cap, going 2-for-2 with three walks and two runs scored against the Lancers. Lauren Fuller had a strong night at the plate in the final game of her career, going 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Tracy Chandless hit a two-run home run in the fourth. For the second time this weekend, Leah Murray came through in the clutch with a pinch hit RBI double, and Destiny DeBerry singled and stole her 33rd base of the season, to finish tied for fourth all time in program history.
Kendra Lynch (28-20) made the longest appearance of her career, throwing all 8.2 innings and allowing five runs on 10 hits and five walks with two strikeouts. The junior hurler finished her prolific season with the most appearances (53), starts (47), complete games (33) and innings pitched (301.1) in Carolina history and finished third all time in wins (28).
Sydney Gay (20-7) started for Longwood but left the game with one out in the third. Elizabeth McCarthy took over and allowed three runs on three hits and two walks over the next three innings before Gay returned to the circle to finish out the game. The Lancer starter picked up the extra-innings win by limiting UNC to just one run on six hits and four walks over a total of six innings.
The Tar Heels scored first in the top of the second, as Delamora drew a leadoff walk and Chandless bunted pinch runner Dani Garcielita to second. Fuller then ripped an RBI single up the middle to get the Heels on the board.
Kaylynn Batten led off the bottom of the frame with a triple to the corner in right, but a great play from Kristen Brown to Katie Bailiiff on a grounder to short nabbed her at the plate as UNC kept the Lancers off the board to preserve the one-run lead.
A single by DeBerry in the top of the third led the Lancers to make a call to the bullpen, as McCarthy entered for Longwood with one out and a runner on first. McCarthy walked Brown, her UNC-record 43rd of the season, but retired Taylor Wike and Lynch to strand two Tar Heels.
Delamora's hot bat continued for a leadoff single in the top of the fourth, then Chandless drilled a two-run bomb to center to make it 3-0 Carolina.
The wet conditions gave Lynch some control issues in the bottom of the fourth, as two hits, three walks and a wild pitch allowed Longwood to cut the deficit back to one. Batten led off with a double, and back-to-back walks loaded the bases with one out. A pitch in the dirt allowed Batten to score on a wild pitch, and after another walk re-loaded the bases, Krista Kelly roped a two-out RBI single to left center to make it 3-2.
A two-out rally tied to the score in the bottom of the fifth, as Karleigh Donovan kept the frame alive with a double down the left field line, and a bloop single by Kelsey Sweeney sent pinch runner Haleigh Kilby home to knot the score at three.
A pinch hit RBI double by Murray gave UNC back the lead in the top of the sixth. Delamora led off with a single to the gap in left center, and after surrendering a long fly ball to Chandless, Montgomery left the circle bringing Gay back into the game. Fuller drilled the first pitch Gay threw into the gap in left center for a single, the Murray doubled over the centerfielder's head to regain the Tar Heel advantage, 4-3.
UNC did not lead for long, as Jessica Smith led off the sixth with a double and reached third on a wild pitch. Justina Augustine then drove her home with an RBI single to shallow left to once again knot the score at four. With just one out and a runner on third, Carly Adams sent a fly ball to left, but a perfect throw to the plate by DeBerry nabbed Augustine for an inning-ending double play to keep the Lancers from taking the lead.
The Tar Heels stranded a leadoff single in the top of the eighth, then Sweeney led off the bottom of the eighth with a double to left. Glenn Walters bunted her to third and Smith flew out to right, but Sweeney opted not to challenge Chandless' arm and a fantastic play up the middle by Wike finished out the inning and stranded Sweeney on third.
Lynch singled through the right side with two outs in the ninth, but Carolina stranded two to head to the bottom half still knotted at four. A one-out single to shallow center by Adams got Longwood going in the bottom of the ninth, and Donovan then came through with a two-out hit down the left-field line to send the winning run across the plate and give the Lancers a 5-4 walk-off victory in the ninth.
The Tar Heels say goodbye to six talented seniors, Kristen Brown, Tracy Chandless, Lauren Fuller, Aquilla Mateen, Erin Satterfield and Elly Wagner, who have helped Carolina achieve new heights. Brown will graduate having broken nearly every offensive record in the book, including setting a new ACC home run record with her 66th against Longwood on Friday. The slugger finishes her illustrious career with a .714 slugging percentage, .100 higher than the previous record, 66 home runs, 469 total bases, 204 RBIs, 181 runs scored, 106 walks, 11 sacrifice flies and 14 intentional walks—all Carolina career records. In addition to setting the conference home run record, she finishes ranked third all time in RBIs, fourth in slugging percentage and total bases, and ninth in runs scored.
Speed demon Mateen also goes down in program history, ranking third all time with a career .358 batting average, fifth with 70 stolen bases, seventh in runs (142) and tied for 10th with 11 triples.
When asked what she will remember the most about this 2016 team, Papa reflected, “This team fought and never died, never gave up. That quality comes from within. Sometimes you can help it along, but you can't always coach that. They've got to have that already and believe and trust. So for me, that was really significant for them to trust the coaching staff, believe in us and go through so much with us this year.”
While the Tar Heels bid farewell to a memorable senior class, great things are still to come from Carolina Softball.
“The future is bright,” said Papa. “We're really excited about it with the pitching we have coming in and the nine freshmen coming in next year. While we're going to lose a great player like Kristen and the leadership of all our seniors, you can't replace the experience that all our young players were able to get this year. We want them to keep that inside, make this our standard, and continue to strive to get through it.”
