Spring Break
Bulldogs set for Tar Heels in softball regional
ZACH DILLARD
Issue date: 5/15/09 Section: Sports
The Georgia softball team is set to take on North Carolina in the winner's bracket of the NCAA Tournament's Chapel Hill Regional on Friday.
In the battle of the top two seeds at the regional, both teams got into the winner's bracket in completely different fashions. Georgia rode a very good pitching and defensive effort en route to a 3-1 victory over Radford in the first game of the tournament.
"I thought it was a good game - it's nice to get one under the belt," said Georgia head coach Lu Harris-Champer. "I thought Sarah (McCloud) pitched well today. We had some nice offense at the top of the order and it was good to see (Kristin) Schnake and (Brianna) Hesson come in with the long ball."
At the other end of the regional bracket, the Tar Heels capitalized on a 16-run first inning on their way to routing Campbell University 21-2 on a run rule. North Carolina set records for runs in an inning, total runs and margin of victory in an NCAA Tournament game.
"I think today we really wanted to make a statement," said Tar Heels head coach Donna J. Papa. "We had been working the last couple of weeks on our hitting and we felt like we had really good swings but mentally we were taking ourselves out of our at-bats. We really wanted to make a statement, and we made a huge statement in the first inning."
Before Thursday's games, all arrows pointed towards a marquee matchup between a high-powered Georgia lineup and a gifted North Carolina pitching staff. Now, the two teams will need to respect each other during the other half of the frame - it is probable Georgia will throw ace Christie Hamilton at the record-setting Tar Heel lineup.
The winner of the Georgia/North Carolina will move on and look to win the regional on Saturday. The loser will have to play later on in the day to try to stay alive and move on to Saturday's games.
The game is set for 1 p.m. on Friday at North Carolina's Anderson Stadium.
In the battle of the top two seeds at the regional, both teams got into the winner's bracket in completely different fashions. Georgia rode a very good pitching and defensive effort en route to a 3-1 victory over Radford in the first game of the tournament.
"I thought it was a good game - it's nice to get one under the belt," said Georgia head coach Lu Harris-Champer. "I thought Sarah (McCloud) pitched well today. We had some nice offense at the top of the order and it was good to see (Kristin) Schnake and (Brianna) Hesson come in with the long ball."
At the other end of the regional bracket, the Tar Heels capitalized on a 16-run first inning on their way to routing Campbell University 21-2 on a run rule. North Carolina set records for runs in an inning, total runs and margin of victory in an NCAA Tournament game.
"I think today we really wanted to make a statement," said Tar Heels head coach Donna J. Papa. "We had been working the last couple of weeks on our hitting and we felt like we had really good swings but mentally we were taking ourselves out of our at-bats. We really wanted to make a statement, and we made a huge statement in the first inning."
Before Thursday's games, all arrows pointed towards a marquee matchup between a high-powered Georgia lineup and a gifted North Carolina pitching staff. Now, the two teams will need to respect each other during the other half of the frame - it is probable Georgia will throw ace Christie Hamilton at the record-setting Tar Heel lineup.
The winner of the Georgia/North Carolina will move on and look to win the regional on Saturday. The loser will have to play later on in the day to try to stay alive and move on to Saturday's games.
The game is set for 1 p.m. on Friday at North Carolina's Anderson Stadium.
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