May 6, 2007

Box Score

Greenville, S.C. - Danielle Franklin notched two hits and drove home the winning run on a fielder's choice in the bottom of the eighth to help Furman down Western Carolina 5-4 in game one and earn a doubleheader split in the regular season finale Sunday at Pepsi Stadium. The Catamounts rallied in game two to upend Furman 3-2.

Furman (17-33-1, 7-13 SoCon), with the double header split, earns the seventh seed in the is week's Southern Conference Tournament in Greensboro, N.C. The Lady Paladins will face second-seeded College of Charleston at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday.

Stephanie Cushing drew a leadoff walk in the eighth and moved to second on a throwing error that allowed Megan Jaudon to reach base. Brythe Blankenship walked to load the bases with nobody out. Lana Mackey followed with a line drive to center, but Nikki Bost made a diving catch and Cushing was unable to tag up in time to attempt to score from third base. Franklin sent a chopper to short and Jamie Swank stepped on second for the force, but her throw to the plate was too late to get Cushing who slid home with the game-winning run.

Furman looked to have the game in control early. After the Catamounts grabbed a 1-0 lead on an unearned run in the first, the Lady Paladins plated three runs in the fifth to take the lead. Danielle Franklin singled to left to tie the game and Amber Kiser lined a two-out, two-run triple into the gap to give Furman the lead. Mackey singled in the sixth to drive in Cushing and up the lead to 4-1.

Western Carolina (26-32, 9-11 SoCon) rallied in the top half of the seventh as Bost and Stephanie Beatty opened the inning with back-to-back singles. After an intentional walk to Savannah Filley loaded the bases with no one out, Mackey fanned Mollie Hauser and Beth Hauser for the first two outs of the inning. Swank, however, tied the game with a three-run double to right-center.

The Lady Paladins once again looked to be in control in the bottom of the seventh. A pinch hit double by Jessica Batten and fielder's choice allowing pinch runner Blake Murray to move to third gave Furman runners on the corners with one out. The Catamounts wiggled off the hook again by picking Murray off of third on a failed bunt attempt and Abby Robertson bounced out to first to end the inning.

Mackey (8-13) earned the victory for Furman allowing three earned runs on six hits in eight innings of work. The freshman fanned six batters despite walking seven. Franklin went 2-for-4 with two RBI while Kiser also drove in two runs.

Mendy McKenzie was tagged with the loss after surrendering five runs on seven hits in 7.2 innings of work. She walked just two batters and struck out three.

Furman erased a 1-0 first inning Western Carolina lead in game two. Jaudon reached on a two-out fielding error by the rightfielder that allowed Robertson to score and tie the game at 1-1. Mackey followed with a RBI single two batters later to give Furman the 2-1 lead.

The Catamounts pulled even in the third inning. Kayla Kelley laced a leadoff triple to right and scored on Filley's single. WCU loaded the bases with one out in the top half of the seventh before Hauser singled to left to plate Beatty with the eventual winning run.

Reliever Lauren Ross (11-7) gave up just one hit in two innings work to earn the victory while Murray (7-16) allowed three runs on nine hits to take the loss for Furman.

Beatty went 3-for-3 with two RBI for the Cats. Mackey collected two hits, including a double, and drove in a run for Furman.