4
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 2004
Seniors, freshman
propel hot streak
BY DANIEL MALLOY
STAFF WRITER
While many students were
basking in the heat on the beach
during Spring Break, the North
Carolina womens golf team was
scorching hot on the links, winning
two tournaments in a row.
The No. 20 Tar Heels staged a
dramatic comeback win March 5-7
in Baton Rouge, La., taking the
LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic title.
The team was in fourth place
going into the final round but shot
a 292 on Sunday, the best round of
the day by 10 strokes, to stage the
remarkable rally.
The Tar Heels edged second
place T\ilane by three strokes.
The team then traveled to
Blythewood, S.C., March 12-14 and
won the Lady Gamecock Classic by
nine strokes, this time holding on
to its final-round lead.
In the two tournaments the Tar
Heels finished ahead of No. 15
Tulane, No. 18 Wake Forest, No. 19
Texas, Furman and South Carolina
all teams that defeated the Tar
Heels in the fall.
Coach Sally Austin, however,
said she expected the results.
“I knew we could do this,” she
said. “I was just waiting for it to
happen.”
The team put together the vic
tories thanks largely to the efforts
of three top golfers: seniors Ashley
Prange and Meaghan Francella
and freshman Katie Miller.
Prange has been nearly unstop
pable so far, taking home individ
ual titles in both tournaments
the first victories of her career.
“Ashley is playing extremely
well,” Austin said. “She has been
consistent with her ball striking
and phenomenal around the
greens.... She’s on a mission.”
The team’s other top senior,
Francella, also turned in an out
■ 1 '4l ¥
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API March 17 at 7 p.m., Carolina Union 3201
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standing third in Louisiana and
tied for fifth in South Carolina.
The excellence from the seniors
was expected, but the talented
Miller has been a welcome sur
prise, tying for 10th in Louisiana
and finishing an impressive second
in South Carolina.
Miller failed to place in the top
10 in the fall, but her success had
been on its way even then.
“It took me time to get acclimat
ed,” Miller said. “The courses are a
lot harder than junior golf courses,
and it’s just playing at another level.”
The whole team will have to
play at another level in the coming
weeks as it faces tougher competi
tion to prepare for the ACC and
NCAA Tournaments.
The Tar Heels will travel to
Austin, Texas, this weekend for the
Betsy Rawls Longhorn
Invitational, a tournament loaded
with nationally ranked opponents.
Fourth-ranked California, No. 7
Arizona, No. 9 Vanderbilt, No.ll
Southern California, No. 13 Itdsa,
No. 16 Oklahoma and No. 19 Ttexas
will all be in the field in Austin.
“We have got to perform better
than we have been,” Austin said,
hinting at the tough road to come.
But despite the difficult upcom
ing tests, UNC is mentally pre
pared, according to Miller.
“I think the wins have given us
confidence,” Miller said. “At the
practice rounds in South Carolina,
everyone was saying, “We can win
this tournament.’”
Austin also said that the confi
dence boost was needed, and that
now the sky is the limit for the
team.
Said Austin, “We certainly want
to win every tournament from here
on out.”
Contact the Sports Editor
at sports@unc.edu.
Sports
Torrid Tar Heels trounce Tigers
BY DAVID MOSES
STAFF WRITER
With weather conditions caus
ing a rain delay and both teams
playing sloppy defense, the North
Carolina baseball team still hand
ily defeated Princeton.
UNC improved to 9-1 in its last
10 games with a 14-8 victory
against the Tigers.
Getting his first start of the sea
son and just the third start of his
career, senior Whitley Benson
pitched six
strong innings
for UNC (13-4).
“I was a little
nervous,” he
BASEBALL
Princeton 8
UNC 14
said. “I just tried to keep the team
in the ballgame.”
Usually assigned to come out of
the bullpen, Benson shook off his
early nerves.
“I’d rather come out of the
bullpen because it’s better for the
team,” Benson said. “I’ll do any
thing the coach asks me to.”
North Carolina coach Mike Fox
didn’t expect anything else from
his senior righthander.
“He just goes out and does his
job,” Fox said. “You can’t say enough
about that. That’s a senior for you,
just getting the job done for us.”
The Tar Heels provided Benson
with some run support when they
jumped on the Tigers (6-2) early
with two first-inning runs.
Leadoff batter Greg Magnum
reached on a three-base error on a
lazy fly ball to center.
It was a sign of things to come
for the Tigers, who committed
four errors on the day.
UNC made three errors.
But Fox said he didn’t think the
wet conditions caused many of the
mistakes.
“The fields were wet for both
teams; they made some errors that
are uncharacteristic for them,” Fox
said. “We just don’t catch the ball.”
UNC batted around in the sec
ond inning while scoring six runs
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DTH/NANCY DONALDSON
UNC junior Chris lannetta (26) stretches for a throw to retire Princeton's Aaron Prince in the Tar Heels' 14-8
victory against the Tigers at Boshamer Stadium on Tuesday, lannetta went 1 for 5 with an RBI in the game.
and jumped out to an 8-0 lead.
Marshall Hubbard continued
his hot hitting, going 3 for 4 with
a home run and three RBI.
The junior right fielder leads
UNC in runs, home runs, RBI and
is tied for the team lead in hits.
Fox said he is glad that Hubbard
has stepped up in his first season
with the Tar Heels.
“We’re happy he’s hitting in the
middle of the order and driving in
some runs for us,” Fox said.
Hubbard, who launched his sev
enth home run of the season in the
fifth inning to give UNC a 9-0 lead,
said he doesn’t consider himself to
be much of a power hitter.
“I’m more of a doubles hitter, but
I just have happened to get some
balls in the air,” Hubbard said.
Hubbard also drove in a run in
the first inning with a sacrifice fly
and another in the sixth inning
with a single to right field.
Princeton finally scored in the
sixth inning on a deep two-run
home run off of UNC relief pitcher
Bo Dickerson.
The Tar Heels retaliated quickly
in the sixth when they batted
around for the second time in the
game to make the score 14-2.
North Carolina committed two
errors in the seventh inning to
allow Princeton to cut the score to
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14-5.
Fox said he didn’t think his team
played as well as it could have
throughout the game.
“First five or six innings, we
were pretty good,” he said. “Last
three of four we weren’t too good.
We did get a little sloppy at the
end, it was a little disappointing.”
Hubbard said he knows the
team is only going to improve
throughout the season.
“We’re coming around,” he said.
“We’ve got a couple more steps to
take.”
Contact the Sports Editor
at sports@unc.edu.