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Softball
Softball Powers Past UNC in Series Opener
March 31, 2017
UVA Top Performers
Madison Labshere: 2-for-3, HR, 2 runs, 2 RBIs
Katie Park: 2-for-4, HR, 2B, 2 runs, 3 RBIs
Danni Ingraham: 2-for-4, 2 runs, 2 RBIs
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Virginia (12-22, 3-10 ACC) blasted three home runs in a 10-4, series opening victory over North Carolina (27-9, 7-3 ACC). The Cavaliers have now won three of the last four games against the Tar Heels.
The win halted a six-game winless streak for Virginia and is the first victory in Chapel Hill since April 3, 2011. The Cavaliers scored in all but two innings and matched a season-high with five doubles. Four different players recorded multi-hit games.
Madison Labshere (El Cajon, Calif.) and Katie Park (Scottsdale, Ariz.) started the Cavalier power surge with home runs in back-to-back innings, giving Virginia a 3-0 advantage after three. The Tar Heels roared back with a four-run rally in their half of the third that saw eight batters come to the plate.
The Cavaliers took the lead for good in the top of the fourth. Labshere tied the game with an RBI double to right center that scored Danni Ingraham (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) and starting pitcher Erika Osherow (Darien, Conn.) helped her own cause by plating Labshere for the go-ahead run.
Osherow battled and went the distance for her sixth complete game of the season. She stranded a total of six Tar Heel runners in scoring position. Osherow struck out three batters and earned her seventh win of 2017.
Virginia continued the onslaught with two runs in the fifth inning and three more in the sixth. Ingraham lifted her fourth home run of the season over the right field wall to give the Cavaliers a 7-4 advantage. Park and Kaitlin Fitzgerald (Placentia, Calif.) added RBI hits in the sixth to put the game out of reach.
The middle game of a three-game series against North Carolina is set for 1:00 p.m. tomorrow (April 1) at Anderson Stadium. The contest will be aired on ACC Network Extra.
Additional Notes
-Friday marked the first Virginia win against a left-handed starting pitcher this season (1-5).
-Friday was the first multi-home run game for Virginia since March 4 against Virginia Tech.
-Virginia is 7-1 when hitting two or more homers in a game.
-UNC drops to 16-3 at home this season.