Wolverines Use Miscues, Home Runs for Run-Rule Win at North Carolina

Tuesday, March 1

Chapel Hill, N.C.

5:00 PM

Michigan

10-5

North Carolina

9-7

Michigan

North Carolina

Meghan Beaubien (Andy Mead photo)

Wolverines Use Miscues, Home Runs for Run-Rule Win at North Carolina

3/1/2022 7:44:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

By: Leah Howard

» No. 19 Michigan plated four runs apiece in the second and fifth innings to earn an 8-0, five-inning decision at North Carolina; it was U-M's second run-rule win in as many games.
» Michigan posted 11 hits from 10 different players, with Hannah Carson and Keke Tholl both hitting homers in the fifth inning.
» LHP Meghan Beaubien struck out one and allowed just two hits and a walk for the complete-game shutout.

Site: Chapel Hill, N.C. (Anderson Stadium)
Score: #19 Michigan 8, North Carolina 0 (5 innings)
Records: U-M (10-5), UNC (9-7)
Next U-M Event: Thursday, March 3 -- at Kentucky (Lexington, Ky.), 5 p.m.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- The No. 19-ranked University of Michigan softball team put up a pair of four-run innings to cruise to an 8-0 decision in five against North Carolina on Tuesday evening (March 1) at Anderson Stadium. It was Wolverines' second straight run-rule victory.

U-M has boasted 40 hits and outscored its opposition 33-4 over its last three games. Michigan recorded 11 hits from 10 different players against the Tar Heels. Sophomore designated player Sierra Kersten went 2-for-3 with a run batted in and two runs scored, while senior catcher Hannah Carson and sophomore pinch-hitter Keke Tholl both went yard in the fifth inning.

The Wolverines took advantage of several UNC miscues to plate four in the second inning, including back-to-back errors off singles through the right side. Kersten earned an RBI on the latter, while junior first baseman Lauren Esman also scored on the errant throw from the Carolina rightfielder. Kersten came around to score on another errant throw on an infield single from junior outfielder Audrey LeClair, who scored on a sacrifice fly to complete U-M's scoring in the chaotic frame.

Michigan used more traditional means -- two doubles and two home runs -- to tack on four more runs in the fifth. Carson led off the frame with a low liner that kept rising right over the center-field wall for her third long ball in six games. Kersten doubled to restart the rally with two outs and scored when graduate student Melina Livingston drove a pinch-hit RBI double to center. Tholl knocked out a pinch-hit, two-run shot to center field just one pitch later. It was her first homer of the season and second of her career.

Graduate student LHP Meghan Beaubien (2-3) struck out one and allowed just two hits and a walk en route to her first complete-game shutout of the season and Michigan's fifth.

The Wolverines (10-5) will take tomorrow off to head to Lexington, Ky., where they will play four games as part of the John Cropp Classic at John Cropp Stadium. U-M will open play against 10th-ranked host Kentucky at 5 p.m. Thursday (March 3), live on SEC Network+.