Spencer, Johnson Lead Tigers Past Tar Heels
Behind a complete-game shutout by Regan Spencer in the circle and home runs by Kylee Johnson and Alex Brown, the No. 12/14 Tigers improved to 19-6 (3-1 ACC) after defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels (20-5, 2-2 ACC) on Friday evening in McWhorter Stadium.
Spencer continued her hot streak in the circle, dealing 80 pitches (53 strikes) with three strikeouts to earn the win, her fourth of the season. She allowed only five hits through her 7.0 innings of work without conceding a walk.
Johnson had a breakout game, tallying two solo home runs in a single game. She sent the first one out of the park in left field in the bottom of the second and followed it with a leadoff home run out of right center to open the bottom of the fourth. She finished the evening 2-for-3 to tally the first multi-hit game of her career and to become the second freshman this season to hit two home runs in their first two plate appearances, joining Julia Knowler’s season-opening performance. She becomes only the fourth freshman in program history to tally multiple home runs in a game joining Knowler, Valerie Cagle and Alia Logoleo.
Another Tiger that went the distance was junior Alex Brown. The former Tar Heel kicked off scoring for the Tigers in the first with a second-pitch home run driven out of right field. This was her second home run and 28th run scored of the season. She finished the evening at the plate going 2-for-4 for her 10th multi-hit game.
The two additional runs scored came out sac flies by both Aby Vieira and Lindsey Garcia. Vieira clocked hers off a bases-loaded situation in the first. She flied out to left field to score Arielle Oda, who tallied a hit of her own earlier in the inning. Garcia’s sac fly came in the third inning after Maddie Moore drew a one-out walk and advanced to third on a double by Vieira. Garcia flew out to left to score Moore, giving Garcia her sixth RBI of 2024 and Moore her 12th run.
Up Next
The Tigers continue weekend action against the Tar Heels on Saturday, March 16. Action is slated to begin at McWhorter Stadium at 1 p.m. on ACCNX.