Softball Drops Finale at Duke in Seventh Inning Walk-off

Sunday, April 25

Durham, N.C.

12 PM

North Carolina

Duke

dugout
University of North Carolina Softball v Syracuse
Williams Field
Anderson Stadium
Chapel Hill, NC
Saturday, March 13, 2021

Photo by: Andy Mead

April 25, 2021 | Softball

Box Score Box Score

By: Sarah Sessoms

DURHAM, N.C.  – Although holding the 3-1 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh, North Carolina fell to rival Duke on a series of hits by the Blue Devils culminating in a 4-3 loss at Duke Softball Stadium in Durham on Sunday.

The Tar Heels rallied against the Duke team with a Kristina Burkhardt single in the bottom of the fifth that drove in three runs from Shayla Thompson, Bri Stubbs and Aneshia Jordan. Carolina held that 3-1 lead until a flurry of hits by the Blue Devils brought about the lead run in a walk-off in the bottom of the seventh.

"I'm really proud of this team and really proud of the fight they put up this weekend at Duke," said head coach Donna J. Papa. "We were two outs away from a win today, and two walk-off wins versus a ranked Duke really shows how much talent and fight we have in this team. It's a game of inches and we are fighting like heck to stay in these games."

North Carolina fell to 12-13 overall with a conference record of 8-17, while Duke improved to 32-10 while going 18-4 in the league.

After a week off, the Tar Heels will return to face the Louisville Cardinals at Anderson Stadium in Chapel Hill May 7-9.

Play-by-Play
» The Blue Devils struck first, with a single RBI to take the score 1-0.
» Carolina remained quiet in the box, for the next four innings, while keeping Duke from scoring as well.
» Brittany Pickett hit a single in the top of the fifth to get on base and end Duke's no-hitter. Bri Stubbs followed by reaching on a fielding error, and Zoë Goodman was hit by pitch to load the bases. Kristina Burkhardt stepped up to the plate, hitting a single, and reached second on another Duke error, scoring Shayla Thompson, Bri Stubbs and Aneshia Jordan for the 3-1 lead.
» The Heels defense kept Duke from answering, including a series of catches in the outfield, and a double play in the bottom of the sixth that held Duke to one run.
» In the bottom of the seventh, a flurry of Duke hits including a home run, brought the score to 4-3, causing a walk off win for the Blue Devils.
» Winning Pitcher: Peyton St. George (14-6) // Losing Pitcher: Brittany Pickett (8-7)

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