Softball ACCtion: Saturday, April 18
North Carolina, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Maryland all sweep.
Danielle Spaulding had nine strikeouts in five innings to get the in and went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and a home run as UNC beat Virginia Tech 8-0 in game one.

Danielle Spaulding had nine strikeouts in five innings to get the in and went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and a home run as UNC beat Virginia Tech 8-0 in game one.

April 18, 2009

No. 13 Carolina Sweeps Twinbill From Virginia Tech
Starting pitchers Danielle Spaulding and Lisa Norris allowed just three hits Saturday afternoon as No. 13 Carolina cruised to a pair of ACC wins over visiting Virginia Tech, 8-0 in five innings in game one before taking game two, 5-0. The wins improved Carolina's overall record to 41-7 on the year and 14-2 in ACC play as the Tar Heels extended their season-long win streak to 20 games and reached the 40-win plateau for the fourth-consecutive season. The Tar Heels and Hokies (19-21, 7-7 ACC) will meet again at 1 p.m. on Sunday as the five Tar Heels seniors will be honored beforehand.

The Tar Heel offense struck for three runs in the bottom of the first as they jumped out to the early 3-0 lead on the back of an RBI single by Whitney Allen and a two-run single by Ally Blake that nearly cleared the fence in dead centerfield.

Danielle Spaulding helped out her own cause in the bottom of the second when she followed Breanna Brown's one-out double with her ninth home run of the season a blast to center that cleared the fence by at least 30 feet making the score 5-0. A scoreless third was quickly answered by the Tar Heels with a two-spot in the fourth as Brown and Spaulding each tallied RBI hits to make the score 7-0.

Seminoles Sweep Doubleheader Against Wolfpack
On a gorgeous Saturday afternoon in Raleigh, N.C., the No. 19 Florida State softball team swept NC State, 10-1 and 1-0, at Dail Stadium on the campus of NC State University. The Seminoles improve to 34-13 and 10-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference while the Wolfpack slips to 20-22 and 3-11.

Sophomore Sarah Hamilton started the early game and picked up her 13th win this season as she gave up just one run on three hits with a pair of walks and seven punch outs. The Tallahassee, Fla., native continues to lead the pitching staff with a 1.05 ERA.

Game one was the big scoring round for the Noles as they plated 10 runs on eight hits. Starting it off in the top of the first was junior Carly Wynn who drew a walk off NC State pitcher Lindsay Campana and would advance to third thanks to a Kaleigh Rafter double to right center. With runners in scoring position, designated player Mallory Borden struck out swinging but would reach first safely on a wild pitch that scored Wynn and moved Rafter to third with sophomore Ashley Stager on deck.

No. 21 Softball Scores 27 Runs En Route To Sweep At Virginia
The No. 21 Georgia Tech softball team (34-11, 11-3 ACC) scored 27 runs on 27 hits en route to a sweep of Virginia (25-16, 2-11) 14-1 and 13-4, both in five innings, Saturday afternoon at The Park. The top five hitters in the Georgia Tech line-up -- redshirt junior Jen Yee, senior Blair Shimandle, freshman Kelsi Weseman, senior Whitney Haller and senior Tiffany Johnson -- went a combined 21-for-33 (.636) with 21 runs scored, six doubles, three home runs and 19 RBI.

At the top of the order, Yee was 3-for-5 with five runs scored, two walks, one double and two RBI. In the two spot, Shimandle went 6-for-7 with five runs scored, two doubles and five RBI, while Weseman was 4-for-7 with four runs scored, one double, one home run and five RBI in the three spot. Haller went 5-for-8 with four runs scored, two home runs and four RBI in the clean-up spot, while Johnson hit 3-for-6 with two doubles and three RBI from the five spot in the line-up.

Sophomore Christy Jones also had a three hit day, while adding three runs scored and two stolen bases. Sophomore Jessica Weaver added a home run and four RBI, while sophomore Caroline Hilton also went deep for the Yellow Jackets.

McLaughlin's Walk-Off Hit Highlights Pair of 4-3 Wins
Freshman Kathy McLaughlin launched a game-winning double to left center field to cap a nine-inning thriller and highlight a pair of 4-3 come-from-behind victories by the University of Maryland softball team over Boston College Saturday afternoon in Robert E. Taylor Stadium.

With two on and one out in the Terps' half of the ninth during Saturday's first game, McLaughlin's walk-off hit scored senior Devon Williams from second base, prompting a celebration at home plate. That two-bagger enabled Maryland to extend its extra-inning win streak to seven games dating back to 2007. The team needed only the customary seven innings to dispose of the Eagles in the nightcap of the double dip.

Senior Sarah Dooley and sophomore Kerry Hickey both turned in strong outings on the mound to notch their 11th and 10th victories of the season, respectively. McLaughlin collected four hits during the doubleheader, and senior Breanna Shaw tallied three RBIs and her third home run of the season. Williams added three hits and three runs, crossing home plate in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings during Saturday's first game, in addition to scoring the game-winner.