Tar Heels Advance In NCAA Tournament Play :: After nine-inning win over Seton Hall, UNC faces No. 1 Michigan Sunday.

May 21, 2005

Sophomore catcher Whitney Gelin singled to center and pinch runner Ashley Oxendine scored when the fielder misplayed the ball to give UNC a 2-1 win over Seton Hall in nine innings Saturday in NCAA Tournament softball play. With the win, UNC (38-28) advanced to face top-ranked Michigan Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Tar Heels, coming out of the losers' bracket, would have to beat Michigan (57-4) twice Sunday to win the region title and advance to the super regional.

After losing to Seton Hall Friday in the NCAA opener, Carolina beat Canisius 3-0 Saturday afternoon on a Crystal Cox no-hitter to earn another shot at the Pirates. The game was the third time that UNC and Seton Hall have met in NCAA play and for the third time the game went into extra innings. UNC was eliminated from the 2004 NCAA Tournament with a 1-0, 12-inning loss to the Pirates. Friday's loss was 1-0 in eight innings. Saturday, the game was tied at 1-1 through seven, sending the teams into extra frames again.

UNC scored its first run in the bottom of the third when Joslin Higgins singled to left with one out. After another Tar Heel out, Marissa May, who was 3-for-4 on the day, reached on a bunt single, putting Higgins on second. Freshman Cassie Palmer then singled to right to score Higgins and put the Tar Heels ahead.

Senior Ashley Allen started the game on the mound for UNC, making her first appearance of the tournament. She didn't give up a hit until the fourth inning and held the Pirates scoreless until Laura Taylor sent the first pitch of the sixth inning over the left field fence. Taylor's home run was the only one of the game for Seton Hall, which stranded 16 runners over the nine innings and loaded the bases in four of the final five innings.

After Allen gave up six hits in five and two-thirds innings, junior Alison Yin replaced her with runners on second and third. Yin got out of the inning and pitched one more, allowing two runs, before Cox replaced her for the final two innings to earn the win and improve to 22-19 on the season.

NOTES

Seton Hall suffered its first extra-inning loss of the season, dropping its record to 10-1 in such situation. North Carolina owns a 3-2 extra-inning mark this year.

Seton Hall's fourth-inning hit broke a streak of 10 consecutive no-hit innings for the Tar Heels, following Cox's complete-game no hitter against Canisius.

Cox's two innings against Seton Hall boosted her season total to 262.0 and setting a school single-season record for innings pitched. The old record was 261.0 by Radara McHugh in 1999. Cox also now holds the school single-season record for complete games with 32.

Senior pitcher Megan Meyer ends her season with 251 strikeouts and holds the top-two spots on Seton Hall's single-season strikeouts list after surpassing her own record (242) earlier this afternoon.

Meyer ends her collegiate career with Seton Hall's all-time records in every pitching category: wins (81), strikeouts (259), appearances (140) and innings pitched (769.5).

Senior Laura Taylor also wrapped up her four-year tenure at Seton Hall with a trio of major records: game played (208), RBIs (160) and home runs (58).