Boston College
North Carolina
Cinderella Heads Home As Eagles Softball Eliminated From ACC Tournament
May 11, 2007 | Softball
May 11, 2007
Tallahassee, Fla. - The Boston College Softball team's exciting run in the ACC Tournament came to an end this evening, as the Eagles fell 5-0 to the University of North Carolina and were eliminated from the ACC Tournament at Florida State University.
Boston College started senior Britney Thompson in the circle for the third time in two days, while UNC countered with their ace, Lisa Norris. With one loss apiece entering this evening's game, both teams needed a win to stay alive in the tournament.
Boston College gave maximum effort, as they have all week, but were unable to get any offense going against the Tar Heels.
Junior Amanda Booth drew a walk to lead off the game. The next batter, freshman Amy Tunstall, attempted a sacrifice bunt that went foul. UNC's first baseman, Danielle Spaulding, made an excellent diving catch to retire Tunstall for the first out of the game. Senior Jenna Macchi then lifted a long fly ball down the left field line. The ball was caught but was also deep enough to allow Booth to tag up to second. She made it no further, however, as Thompson followed with a pop to second for the final out of the first.
Thompson set the Tar Heels down quickly in the first on two grounders and a fly out. The first out was noteworthy, as a ground ball bounced off the glove of charging third baseman Taylor Peyton. Macchi made a heads-up play and in a single motion, caught the deflected ball and fired to first for the out.
Norris worked just as fast in the top half of the second, putting the Eagles away 1-2-3 on a pop-up and two swinging strikeouts.
The Tar Heels got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the second. After a one-out walk to Anna Evans, Emily Troup lifted a short fly to center field. BC center fielder Carley McNary charged hard and dove forward, full-extension. Her dive came up short, however, and the ball bounced past her all the way to the wall. This allowed Evans to come all the way around from first as sophomore left fielder Danielle Pandolfo retrieved the ball in center. McNary has made countless sensational diving grabs in center this year, and the Tar Heels were fortunate one finally got by her. Thompson dug in and got a strikeout and pop-up to get out of the inning down just 1-0.
The Eagles were able to do little in the top of the third. Booth reached base once again, this time on a two-out bunt single, but was once again stranded, as Norris k'ed Tunstall to end the inning.
Thompson struck out Norris for the first out of the bottom of the third, before allowing a single to Cassie Palmer. Ashley Oxendine sacrificed Palmer to second, but she went no further, as Thompson got Breanna Brown to pop up to Macchi at short.
The Eagles got a rally started in the top of the fourth. Macchi was retired to start the inning when she ripped a liner right at the third baseman, but Thompson followed with a single through the right side. Thompson was then retired when sophomore Renee Ramos reached on a fielder's choice to second. Senior Ashley Obrest came through with a single to left and the Eagles had two on with two out. The rally ended, however, when freshman Dani Weir flew out to the center fielder.
The Tar Heels added a run in the bottom half of the fourth when Troup tripled over Booth's head in right field and came home on a single up the middle by Spaulding, all with two away.
The Eagles went quickly in the top of the fifth, as Norris put BC away with a strikeout and two pop-ups, one in foul territory.
The Tar Heels went right back to work in the bottom of the fifth. Palmer doubled down the left field line with one out and two batters later, came around to score on an RBI single by Brown, giving UNC a 3-0 lead.
The Eagles went in order again in the sixth, as Norris was really in a groove.
In the bottom of the sixth, Evans led off with a single, and Head Coach Jen Finley went to the bullpen, moving Peyton over to the circle from third base. Troup followed with a double to right, her third extra-base hit of the game. Evans moved up to third on the play, giving the Tar Heels two runners in scoring position with nobody out. After Spaulding lined out to Macchi, pinch-hitter Ciara Rimoldi singled to center, scoring Evans. Norris then reached on an error by Weir, enabling Troup to score. Finley then went to sophomore pitcher Savana Lloyd, who got the final two outs of the inning. But, the damage was done and the Tar Heels led 5-0, while the Eagles were three outs away from elimination.
In the seventh, Weir singled with two outs, but could not advance as Peyton grounded out to end the game.
For the second time today, the Eagles ran into a stifling pitcher, as Norris threw seven shutout innings, allowing just four hits and a walk while striking out six. She improved to 24-12, keeping UNC alive. Thompson fell to 10-17, despite another solid pitching performance. Thompson pitched all three games the Eagles played in the tournament, going 1-2 with a 2.82 ERA.
The Eagles season is over, but the tournament marks a major step forward for Finley's program. The transition to the ACC has been a challenging one, and the Eagles went 0-2 last year in their first ACC tournament appearance. Yesterday, not only did Boston College win its first ever ACC Tournament game, but they did so against the defending champions and conference Player of the Year from North Carolina State.
Sadly, the Eagles bid adieu to their fantastic trio of seniors, team leaders Jenna Macchi, Britney Thompson, and Ashley Obrest. However, the three seniors have led the team's transition to a new, more competitive conference, and left the underclassmen with sterling examples of how to play the game the right way. With Finley at the helm, and a talented crew of underclassmen returning, it will not be long until the Eagles are making noise in the conference tournament again.
