North Carolina will face No. 2 seed Pitt in the semifinals
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Atlanta, Ga. (theACC.com) – After two-and-a-half-hour rain delay, No. 3 seed North Carolina defeated No. 6 seed Georgia Tech, 6-1, in the fourth quarterfinal of the 2018 ACC Softball Championship at Georgia Tech’s Mewborn Field.
The Tar Heels (30-25) advance to play No. 2 seed Pitt in Friday’s second semifinal game at 3:30 p.m. Friday’s contests will be televised by the league’s Regional Sports Networks, and Saturday’s title game will be carried live on ESPN.
Brittany Picket pitched a complete game while striking out seven for the Tar Heels. She also added two RBI and a home run.
Georgia Tech (28-26) took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the third. Centerfielder Draven Sonnon was walked to lead off the inning and leftfielder Cameron Stanford followed with a single to put a pair of Yellow Jackets on. First baseman Katie Krzus’ RBI single brought home Sonnon to give Georgia Tech the one run advantage.
North Carolina answered in the bottom of the third and tied it up when leftfielder Destiny DeBerry stole home after shortstop Taylor Wike was walked and stole second. Pickett followed with a single which drove home Wike to give the Tar Heels a 2-1 lead.
North Carolina threatened again in the bottom of the fourth and had the bases loaded with no outs. Emily Anderson got out of the inning following a fielder’s choice for the first out at home, a strikeout and groundout.
The Tar Heels’ plated four runs in the bottom of the sixth to go ahead 6-1. After second baseman Katelyn Shifflett fouled out, DeBerry reached first on a fielding error. First baseman Leah Murray followed with a single and advanced to second. Centerfielder Kiani Ramsey laid down a bunt that drove DeBerry in, and Wike singled to center field which sent Ramsey home. Pickett capped North Carolina’s scoring spree with a solo home run to left field.
North Carolina Quote
Opening statement from head coach Donna J. Papa:
“Georgia Tech swings the bats well, but Brittany got stronger as the innings went on and did a really nice job of keeping their hitters off balance. We did had some great defensive plays with Taylor’s at short and Kiani’s grab in center. We just did some really good things tonight. We kept pushing Georgia Tech’s pitcher and got 12 hits off of her which we were unable to do during the series this year. The top of our lineup put the ball in play and Destiny did well with her slaps and base-running. I was really pleased and proud of how the team responded tonight.”