GREENSBORO, NC – No. 22 North Carolina took both games of a doubleheader over UNC Greensboro in a non-conference softball clash Tuesday evening at UNCG Softball Stadium.
UNC (39-11) won game one 6-0, before winning the nightcap by the score of 11-0 in five innings.
Tar Heel starter Crystal Cox set a career high with 16 strikeouts in the first game to improve her record to 21-5 on the season.
North Carolina scored on a sacrifice fly in the second inning by Alyssa Francona to take a 1-0 lead. The Heels would then add single runs in the second and third innings to lead 3-0. Francona then put the game out of reach when she singled to left field to plate two more runs for the visitors in the fifth.
Jennifer Bonilla and Vanessa Oakes each picked up a double to highlight the Spartan offense in game one. Hannah Angel (5-11) suffered the loss after allowing six runs (four earned) on five hits over the distance. She also walked five and struck out seven Tar Heel batters.
Francona had three RBIs for UNC, while Breanna Brown scored two runs and added a single.
The second game featured a pitching dual for the first three innings, before North Carolina exploded for 11 runs, all unearned, in the top half of the fourth inning. The Tar Heels sent 15 batters to the plate and scored their runs on four hits, four walks, three hit batsmen and two Spartan errors that loomed very large in the inning.
Amber Johnson started the nightcap for UNC and had a no-hitter going until Kara Clouser lined a single up the middle with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning. It marked the second time in the last three UNCG games that Clouser broke up a no-hit bid. On Sunday at Chattanooga, Clouser also struck with two outs in the fifth against UTC's Ashley Frizzell.
Johnson (7-2) picked up the win with nine strikeouts for the Tar Heels. Oakes (9-9) took the loss after allowing 10 unearned runs on four hits and struck out four batters in 3.2 innings of work. Danielle Byrne gave up the other unearned run in 1.1 innings.
Cassie Palmer was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, while Ashley Oxendine, Jennifer Jacobs and Anna Evans each scored two runs for the Tar Heels
UNCG gets back to Southern Conference action on Friday at Appalachian State. The two clubs will take part in a doubleheader beginning at 1 pm.
AGATE
Game One 123 456 7 R-H-E
UNC 011 130 0 6-5-0
UNCG 000 000 0 0-2-3
UNC: Crystal Cox and Whitney Gelin UNCG: Hannah Angel and Kelly Allen
W: Cox (21-5). L: Angel (5-11). SV: None.
Game Two 123 45 R-H-E
UNC 000 (11)0 11-7-1
UNCG 000 00 0-1-2
UNC: Amber Johnson and Theresa Nicholas UNCG: Vanessa Oakes, Danielle Byrne (4) and Kelly Allen
W: Johnson (7-2). L: Oakes (9-9). SV: None.
- UNCG -
