Game 1 Boxscore

Game 2 Boxscore

Boone, N.C. – Dani Heichen tripled into the left-centerfield gap and scored on a throwing error to give Appalachian State a 5-4 walk-off win in game two and doubleheader sweep of Furman in Southern Conference softball action on Saturday afternoon at Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium.

The sweep improved the Mountaineers to 23-16 overall and 15-5 in the SoCon while Furman dipped to 22-23 overall and 7-9 in league play.

GAME 1

In game one, Alissa Schoelkopf (14-9) held Furman to a pair of runs on five hits in five innings, and Shivaun Landeros worked two scoreless innings to earn the save as Appalachian State prevailed, 3-2.

The Mountaineers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on Allie Cashion's eighth homer of the season, a solo shot to straightaway center field.  Caroline Rogers drew a leadoff walk and Pepper Butler followed with a single to begin the third before pinch hitter Alex Sohl lined a double to left field to up the margin to 2-0.  Lindsay Loudermilk drove in the Mountaineers third run with a grounder to second base.

Furman, which stranded nine runners in the game, got on the board in the top half of the sixth inning when Lauren Collier hammered a solo home run off of the roof of the indoor practice facility beyond the center field fence, and Ambree Muller followed with a long solo shot off of the roof in right field to cut the margin to 3-2.

In the seventh inning, Nikki Legg reached on a leadoff walk and Natalie Clemmons followed with a single, but Landeros stranded the pair by striking out Collier and getting Muller to ground back to the circle to end the game.

Landeros picked up her first save by allowing only one hit in two scoreless innings.  

Collier suffered the loss for Furman to drop to 11-10 in the circle.  She allowed three runs on five hits in six innings of work while striking out six batters and issuing one walk.

Clemmons went 2-for-4 with a double to pace the Paladin offense.

GAME 2

Dani Heichen lined a one-out triple into the left-center field gap in the bottom of the seventh and scored when Legg threw wild from the outfield as the Mountaineers walked off with a 5-4 win over Furman in game two.

With Furman trailing 4-1 in the top of the sixth, Stephanie Field, Muller and Taylor Jenkins reached on singles to load the bases with one out.  Sieara Bishop's grounder to first pulled the Paladins within 4-2, but Landeros worked out of further trouble.

In the seventh, Hannah Pace and Legg opened the frame with back-to-back singles to chase Landeros from the game.  Clemmons put down a sacrifice bunt against Schoelkopf and Field knotted the game at 4-4 with a two-run double into the left-center field gap before Collier and Muller were retired to end the threat and set up Heichen's heroics.

Schoelkopf, who worked a scoreless inning, earned the victory to up her record to 15-9.  Heichen went 2-for-3 and scored two of the Moutaineers' five runs.

Reliever Shelby Parker took the loss for Furman to drop to 4-6.  She allowed just an unearned run on two hits in three and 1/3 innings in the circle.  Parker fanned five batters and allowed only one walk in relief of starter Meaghan Houston, who was charged with four runs on six hits in three innings.

Furman took a 1-0 lead in the first when Legg scored from first base after Field's single to left-center was misplayed by the left fielder.  The hit was Field's 200th career safety and made her just the fifth player in Paladin history to reached the 200-hit plateau.

Appalachian State exploded for four runs in the bottom of the third off of Houston.  With two outs and nobody on base, Sarah Warnock walked and Heichen beat out an infield single.  Loudermilk lined an RBI single up the middle to tie the game before Cashion laced a double down the line to put the Mountaineers in front.  Meghan Smith capped the rally with a two-run single to the opposite field to give ASU a 4-1 lead.

Field paced Furman going 4-for-4 with two RBI while Legg and Jenkins each collected a pair of hits in the loss.

Furman and Appalachian State wrap up the three-game series at 1 p.m. on Sunday in Boone, N.C.

Fans can follow live stats for the series finale by logging onto www.FurmanPaladins.com and receive live updates on Twitter by following @FurmanSoftball.