BYU Athletic Communications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - BYU softball began the NCAA Chapel Hill regional with a 3-0 shut out victory over No. 13 North Carolina.

BYU battled hard against North Carolina, but a sixth inning, three-run hom run from sophomore Angeline Quiocho gave BYU the momentum and runs needed to defeat the ranked opponent. Quiocho's offensive performance was complimented by BYU pitcher Christina Gwyn-Trice's complete game outing. Gwyn-Trice only gave up five hits while striking out three North Carolina hitters.

"We played great defense, Christina Gwyn-Trice pitched a solid game, and our hitters were able to make the adjustments to [UNC pitcher Danielle] Spaulding, who threw a great game," BYU coach Gordon Eakin said. "I knew if we kept competing we would eventually break through. Our girls did a tremendous job today."

Spaulding had a strong hold of BYU's offense, allowing only four hits while striking out 14 BYU hitters.

After a perfect first inning from both sides, senior Daniela Snow led off the second with a free ride to first when she was hit by the pitch, giving BYU its first base runner.

Snow made the stretch from first to third when a fielding error gave Caschjen Davis two bases. With two runners in scoring position and two outs, Spaulding grabbed her fifth strike out of the afternoon to retire the side without allowing a run.

After throwing two perfect innings, Gwyn-Trice allowed a leadoff single, and the runner was advanced on a sacrifice bunt.

With North Carolina's first runner in scoring position, a single to centerfield and a BYU throwing error allowed the lead runner to advance toward home. But BYU recovered when Gwyn-Trice grabbed the ball and flipped it to Emi Snow-Willing to make the play at the plate.

The score remained at a 0-0 deadlock until the top of the sixth inning. Monica Gonzales singled off of a bunt and stole second. Snow reached first on a walk to put two runners on base. Quiocho then stepped up to the plate and hit a long bomb over the centerfield fence to score the only three runs of the game. The hits gives Quiocho a team-leading 18 homers on the season.

BYU held their lead and squashed North Carolina's scoring opportunity in the seventh inning with a double play to win the game, 3-0.

The win gives the Cougars a 43-18 record on the season, while dropping North Carolina to 50-11-1.

The Cougars will face No. 23 Georgia on Friday at 1 p.m. at Anderson Stadium in Chapel Hill.

The winner of the double-elimination Regional will advance to the NCAA Super Regional. All of the action from the Chapel Hill Regional is available via livestats at the Web site, byucougars.com.