April 21, 2007

Box Score

Boone, N.C. - Furman scratched across an unearned run on a ninth inning groundout and sophomore Blake Murray tossed 2.2 innings of scoreless relief to lead Furman to a 4-3 extra-inning victory over Appalachian State in game one of Saturday's doubleheader in Boone, N.C.

Amber Kiser singled up the middle with one out in the ninth and moved to third when Abby Robertson reached on a single and Kasey Montsinger's throw to first sailed wide. Stephanie Cushing drove in Kiser for the eventual game-winning run on a groundout to second.

Appalachian had rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the last at bat. Ashley Gaston and Natalie Willis led off the seventh with back-to-back singles to left field before executing a double steal. Peters drove in Gaston and advanced Willis to third on a groundout to second. Lindsay Glover tied the game with a one-out single to center to plate Willis.

After Mackey hit Brittany Gaston, reliever Blake Murray entered the game for Furman. Murray got Diana Cook to pop into a double play to retire the side and send the game to extra innings.

Murray (7-13) limited the Mountaineers to no runs on only one hit while fanning four batters to pick up the win in relief of Lana Mackey.

First Baseman Jessica Batten led Furman with two hits, including a double. Jaudon batted in two runs.

Furman got on the board first in the top half of the first inning. Cushing was hit by a pitch with two outs and Megan Jaudon hammered a 1-2 pitch over the centerfield fence to give the Lady Paladins a 2-0 lead. The homer, Jaudon's 21st career roundtripper, moved her into a second place tie on Furman's all-time list with Cathy Frohnheiser.

ASU trimmed the lead to 2-1 on Danielle Peters' leadoff homer in the bottom of the inning. The Mountaineers then loaded the bases on two singles and a hit batter before pitcher Lana Mackey got Meagan Squartino to line out to retire the side.

Furman added an insurance run in the top of the seventh. Amber Kiser reached on an error by ASU second baseman Brittany Gaston and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. After a Cushing groundout advanced Kiser to third, she raced home on a wild pitch to give the Lady Paladins a 3-1 lead.

Kayla Richardson suffered the loss for Appalachian to fall to 5-7 on the season. Richardson allowed two earned runs on eight hits in 8.1 innings of work. Peters paced the Mountaineers at the plate going 2-for-5 with a homer and two RBI.

The win improves Furman to 15-26-1 overall and 5-8 in Southern Conference play. Appalachian falls to 16-31 overall and 8-8 in the league.

Game two of the doubleheader is set for 3:30 p.m.