Feb. 29, 2008
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ga. -
The North Carolina softball team split its opening two games at the NFCA Leadoff Classic on Friday in Columbus, Ga. as No. 16 Louisiana-Lafayette knocked off the Tar Heels 7-1 before Carolina rebounded with a hard fought 1-0 victory over Iowa. Danielle Spaulding improved to 5-0 on the year as she picked up the victory over Iowa. Carolina will take on Tennessee Tech (11 a.m.) and Nebraska (1 p.m.) on Saturday in the second day of the NFCA Leadoff Classic.
Carolina opened the day with a top 25 showdown against No. 16 Louisiana-Lafayette, which lived up to its billing after the opening two innings. The Ragin' Cajuns put together a rally in the top of the third as they garnered a 2-0 lead over Carolina. ULL would tally another pair of runs in the top of the fourth and three more in the sixth to take a 7-0 lead.
The Tar Heels attempted to mount a rally in the bottom of the seventh but it was too little, too late for Carolina as they fell 7-1. Bree Ensminger led off the seventh with a single and moved to second on a groundout before a pop out put two outs on the board. Emily Troup continued her solid start to the year with a single to left field that scored Ensminger and cut into the Ragin' Cajun lead. A fly out would the end the potential for a big comeback and put Carolina at 13-4 overall.
The Tar Heels would have a chance to bounce back right away as they faced off against Big Ten foe Iowa. Danielle Spaulding got the call in the circle and continued her hot streak of solid starts. Spaulding and Iowa's Brittany Weil went toe-to-toe in a pitcher's duel.
Iowa picked up a two-out single in the top of the first before Spaulding recorded her third strikeout of the inning to end threat. After setting the first two batters down in the second, Spaulding found herself in trouble as she allowed a base on balls and back-to-back singles to load the bases. A groundout to Cassie Palmer would end the Hawkeyes threat and refocus the sophomore in the circle as she would allow just one more hit the rest of the way.
The Carolina bats could not seem to get going against Weil as she was nearly perfect through the opening five innings, allowing just one walk. The Tar Heels would draw another walk in the top of sixth as freshman
Brittany McKinney led off with the inning and got on base. Fellow freshman
Dani Manko checked into the game as a pinch runner for McKinney allowing coach
Donna J. Papa to play some small ball. A pair of sacrifice bunts by
Anna Roberts and
Cassie Palmer put Manko on third with two down for
Breanna Brown. The Durham, N.C. native gave Carolina a 1-0 lead as she dropped in a bloop single to score Manko from third and put Carolina ahead for good.
Spaulding allowed a single in the sixth but was able to get out of the jam before dominating the Hawkeyes in the seventh with three consecutive strikeouts to bump her total to 12 on the day and push the Tar Heels to 14-4 on the year.
Carolina will take on Tennessee Tech at 11 a.m. and Nebraska at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday for the second day of the NFCA Leadoff Classic.
