CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Notre Dame battled through a pitchers’ duel with North Carolina Sunday, but came up just short, falling to the Tar Heels 2-1. Junior pitcher Payton Tidd (4-4) shouldered the loss, as the Irish are now 9-7 in 2021 and 3-5 in conference play.
Freshman Karina Gaskins homered in the second inning for Notre Dame’s lone score of the day, adding another hit, while Tidd and senior Abby Sweet were responsible for the other two Irish hits. Tidd pitched 5.2 innings, allowing two solo home runs and striking out one. Senior pitcher Morgan Ryan entered in relief in the sixth inning.
On the weekend, Sweet headlined for the Irish, batting .714 and going 10-14 with 4 RBI, two home runs, three doubles, 19 total bases, two stolen bases and a 1.357 SLG %. Reaching base in all four games this weekend, she continues her on-base streak to 32-consecutive games. Gaskins has also compiled a notable on-base streak, reaching the bag in 11-straight games in which she has played.
How It Happened
Both teams went scoreless in the first, and Gaskins led off the second with a home run, her second of the weekend and third of the season. Tidd followed with a single, but was left on base. Carolina responded in the bottom half of the inning with a leadoff home run, and Tidd and the Irish allowed two more runners on base before stranding them to end the inning.
The third, fourth and fifth innings went without a run for either team, as the Irish posted two hits and left three on base, while the Tar Heels compiled one hit and two runners left on base.
Notre Dame was retired in order in the sixth, and North Carolina led off their half of the inning with another solo home run. While the Irish limited any additional scoring, they were unable to manufacture runs in the seventh, and accepted the series split with a final 2-1 score.
Up Next
Notre Dame will continue the road swing with a four-game series at Georgia Tech March 19-21.