March 9, 2005

Box Score

CHAPEL HILL --- The University of North Carolina softball team bounced back from a loss in the opening game to gain a split with visiting Gardner-Webb Wednesday at the UNC Softball Complex. After falling 5-3 in game one, the Tar Heels rebounded with a 10-0 five-inning win in the nightcap. Anna Evans had four hits and scored two runs in the doubleheader to lead UNC offensively, while Alison Yin allowed only three hits to pick up the shutout in the circle.

Gardner-Webb (9-11-1) jumped on top right out of the gate to take control in game one. After Kelly Linsley reached on an error with one out in the first, left fielder Rachael Riopel put the Bulldogs up 2-0 with a towering home run that just cleared the left field fence. UNC (15-8) got a run back in the bottom half of the frame when Stacie Reichert (5-6) walked Whitney Gelin with the bases loaded to force in a run.

GWU added three more in the third to build a lead it would not relinquish. Carolina starter Crystal Cox (6-6) allowed two singles and a walk to load the bases with no one out, then walked Riopel to force in a run. Two batters later, Danielle Christmas singled to center to plate two more and push the lead to 5-1.

After Marissa May scored on a fielding error to make the score 5-2, neither team would score again until the seventh. Tar Heel reliever Ashley Allen held the Bulldogs in check, allowing no runs and two hits in 4.1 innings. Carolina would score its last run of the game on a Gelin solo home run with two outs in the last inning, but would get no closer, as Gardner-Webb won 5-3.

Carolina dominated game two from start to finish, scoring 10 runs in the first three innings to put the Bulldogs away early. After Yin (6-1) put GWU down in order in the top of the first, the Tar Heels scored four times on just two hits. After a May bunt single and a Cassie Palmer sacrifice, Gardner-Webb starter Taryn Beck (1-2) walked or hit the next four batters to force home two runs. Joslin Higgins added two more with a two-RBI single to center.

UNC extended its lead to 6-0 with a pair of runs in the second. May, who reached on her second bunt single, advanced to third on a throwing error then scored on a wild pitch. Evans then singled home Palmer, who had reached on Beck's third walk of the game, for her fourth hit of the afternoon.

Four more runs in the third put Carolina in position to win via the five-inning mercy rule. The Tar Heels took advantage of four hits and two Bulldog errors to score four more runs, making the score 10-0. Palmer had the only RBI in the frame, as the other three runs scored either on errors or wild pitches.

Yin carried a perfect game into the fourth, and had faced only the minimum before GWU loaded the bases in the fifth with no one out. But Yin proceeded to retire the next three Bulldogs in order to end the game after five innings.

Carolina will now hit the road for the next 10 days, as the Tar Heels travel to Atlanta for a weekend series with Georgia Tech, then move on to Fullerton, Calif., for the Kia Classic. UNC will play a doubleheader against the Yellow Jackets on Saturday, with game one set to begin at noon.