By R.L. Bynum
DURHAM — North Carolina softball has made impressive strides in its first season under Megan Smith Lyon, but it ended sooner than the Tar Heels expected.
No. 7-seed UNC blew a three-run lead as No. 10 Notre Dame rode a five-run sixth inning to a 7–4 victory Wednesday at Duke Softball Stadium in the first round of the ACC tournament.
“We’re disappointed today,” said Smith Lyon, who came to her alma matter after four seasons at Marshall. “Obviously, we want to we wanted to keep the season going for those seniors that have given so much to the program. But, for it to be year one, there’s a lot to build on.”
The Tar Heels, who finished 30–20, were seeking their first ACC tournament victory since 2019. They didn’t get that, but Smith Lyon has set a solid foundation, leading Carolina to its first winning season in five years after replacing longtime former coach Donna Papa.
“I’ve seen a lot of players start loving the game and playing free,” Smith Lyon said. “Most of them had career years. They put a lot of work in and they really wanted it. The seniors, especially, came out and really wanted to have the best year they could their final year. So, I’m really, really excited for them that they were able to do that.”
Carolina led the ACC in team batting average at .349 with three in the top 10 in average — junior right fielder Alex Coleman (.438), graduate third baseman Destiny Middleton (.426) and left fielder Sanaa Thompson (.397), an ACC All-Freshman team pick.
Smith Lyon said the turnaround this season came with her team’s determined attitude.
“I think it was just people wanting to win,” she said. “Trying to instill that mindset that we want to come out and compete every single game and win and that we can do that. We believe that we can do that. We can have confidence in every game that we come out, and I think that was the key.”
Notre Dame (27–22), which lost two of three games to UNC in the regular season, advanced to a 5 p.m. Thursday quarterfinal game against No. 2-seed Florida State (41–13).
The most frustrating part of the season-ending loss is that all seven of the Irish’s runs came with two outs. IUNC starting pitcher Kenna Raye Dark (loser, 8–7) battled out of trouble early but ultimately couldn’t hold down Notre Dame’s offense.
“Kenna has been such a great pitcher for us all season,” Smith Lyon said. “I felt like she gutted out today and had some really good moments and kept us in it and then you know, we just cut and cut and slammed the door there.”
After Dark worked out of two-on, one-out jams with a runner on third in the first two innings, the Tar Heels grabbed the momentum with three runs in the bottom of the second inning.
Notre Dame starter Alexis Laudenslager gave up a leadoff single to Thompson. After she was out on a fielder’s choice, Laudenslager walked three straight Tar Heels to score a run. With two outs, Irish second baseman Addison Amaral’s fielding error scored two more runs.
Dark had retired seven batters in a row before Notre Dame got back-to-back two-out, fourth-inning home runs from right fielder Jane Kronenberger and shortstop Anna Holloway to slice UNC’s lead to one.
The Tar Heels got a run back on second baseman Skyler Brooks’ bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth.
Notre Dame seized a 7–4 lead with five runs in the sixth. Two-out RBI singles from pinch hitter Mac Vasquez and pitcher Micaela Kloss tied it and ended Dark’s day. Senior right-handed relief pitcher Talia Hannappel induced what should have been an inning-ending groundout but Brooks’ throwing error scored two more runs.
“That’s an unfortunate mistake defensively,” Smith Lyon said. “Skyler is probably our best defensive player and I know she’s disappointed. But she’s a heck of a second baseman. So, it just didn’t fall our way today.”
Amaral made up for her error with a double that drove in two more in the inning. Hannappel gave way to freshman left-hander Nikki Harris after a walk, who got out of the inning with a strikeout. Harris struck out three in 1⅓ innings of relief.
“I think we’ve got a lot to build with,” Smith Lyon said. “I think we got a long road ahead of us. This is just the beginning of what we want to do. We’ve got a long road but we’ve got some young players that are ready. I mean, Nikki coming in and doing what she did at the end there, I thought was a big bright spot moving forward.”
Carolina got the leadoff batter on in the fourth, fifth and sixth inning but couldn’t score.
NOTES — Two Tar Heels — graduate shortstop Abby Settlemyre and graduate catcher Autumn Owen — were named Second Team All-ACC on Wednesday. … Notre Dame leads the all-time series with UNC 23–12. … Rain began as the game ended, with ominous clouds above.
No. 10 Notre Dame 7, No. 7 UNC 4
ACC tournament
At Duke Softball Stadium
All games on ACC Network
Wednesday’s first-round results
No. 9 Boston College 1, No. 8 Syracuse 0
No. 10 Notre Dame 7, No. 7 North Carolina 4
Thursday’s quarterfinals
Boston College (30–23) vs. No. 1 Duke (44–6), 11 a.m.
No. 5 Clemson (33–16) vs. No. 4 Virginia (32–17), 1:30
Notre Dame (27–22) vs. No. 2 Florida State (41–13), 5 p.m.
No. 6 Georgia Tech (31–22) vs. No. 3 Virginia Tech (39–11–1), 7:30
Friday’s semifinals
Winners of first two quarterfinals, 1 p.m.
Winners of the last two quarterfinals, 3:30
Saturday’s championship
Semifinal winners, 2:30
Photo courtesy of ACC by Jaylynn Nash
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