Furman Baseball Takes Two Wins - The Elon Series Video
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Jordan Simpson homered twice and drove in five runs to power Furman to a 14-3 win over Elon in a suspended game from Friday, and Jacques de Gruy hurled 6 2/3 effective innings to the help the Paladins beat the Phoenix, 9-7, in Saturday's regularly scheduled contest at Latham Stadium.
Furman (21-28, 9-13 SoCon), which claimed its third straight regular season series win over Elon (26-24, 12-14 SoCon) will go for the series sweep in Sunday's 1:00 p.m. Southern Conference series finale.
The Paladins built a 4-0 lead in Friday's opener before rain forced a suspension of play in the middle of the fifth inning. Once play was resumed at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, Elon quickly cut it to 4-3 with a Cody Jones three-run home run in the sixth.
Furman answered with five runs in the bottom of the frame, highlighted by Simpson's two-run home run to left field off Brandon Kacer, to stretch its advantage to 9-4.
The Paladins tacked on two runs in the seventh and added three more in the eighth on Simpson's second clout of the contest, a three-run shot to left field that made it 14-3.
Simpson's two-home run display punctuated a 4-for-5 performance that featured five RBI and four runs.
Carter Grote went 3-for-5 and scored twice, and Hunter Burton registered a 2-for-4 effort at the plate with two RBI and two runs. He also swiped his nation leading 36th base to establish as new Furman single season stolen base standard, besting the old mark of 35 held by Eddy Halleman since 1986.
The Paladins finished with 12 hits.
Paladin starter Matt Solter (2-5), who allowed only one hit, a fourth inning single, in five innings of work before the game's suspension, faced only one batter over the minimum ad struck out five. He did not return to pitch on Saturday but was credited with the victory.
The loss was charged to Elon starter Lucas Bakker (6-3), who allowed four runs, three of which were earned, on five hits in four innings.
Elon was limited to six hits in the contest.
In Saturday's regularly scheduled game, de Gruy (3-3), the SoCon's reigning pitcher of the week, held Elon hitless into the fifth inning and departed with two outs in the seventh with a 5-1 lead in the eventual 9-7 Paladin victory.
The senior right-hander struck out seven and walked two in earning his second win in his last three outings.
The first hit he allowed, a solo home run to Chris King with one out in the fifth, ended a streak of 14 consecutive shutout innings dating back to his last start, when he pitched 9 2/3 inning of shutout ball against Georgia Southern on May 3.
de Gruy's teammates gave him a 2-0 lead in the first inning on an Alex Abrams sacrifice fly and Jordan Simpson RBI single.
The Paladins made it 3-0 in the third and extended the advantage to 5-0 an inning later on Jake Jones' single to second base that plated Heath Burton, and a Chris Ohmstede sacrifice fly that drove home Hunter Burton.
Trailing 5-1, Elon made it a two-run game in the seventh on a Tucker Norton two-out, two-run single off de Gruy's replacement, Elliott Warford.
The Phoenix cut it to 5-4 in the eighth with a Danny Lynch single off Brant Masters that drove home Nick Zammarelli. Alex Abrams took over for Masters and pitched around an error by striking out Andy Moore looking to preserve the one-run lead.
The Paladins responded by scoring four runs in the eighth after the first two batters were retired. Greg Harrison's single started the rally, and he scored on Chris Ohmstede's double that split the gap in right center field. Abrams followed with a base hit that drove home Ohmstede. Two batters later Carter Grote plated Abrams with a single, and on the play Jordan Simpson was awarded home after an errant throw from center field sailed into Furman's dugout.
The Paladins' four-run eighth proved decisive as Elon used two walks by Furman reliever Ryan Morse to start the ninth to score three runs on a Blaine Bower three-run home run off Morse's replacement, Matthew Quarles. The Phoenix followed Bower's shot with a pair of singles but that's where the comeback attempt stalled as Quarles got Zammarelli on a foul pop, struck out pinch hitter Tyler McVicar, and retired King on a fly to right to end the game.
Furman banged out 13 hits in the contest, getting two-hit performances from Jake Jones, Cameron Whitehead, Harrison, Ohmstede, and Grote. Harrison scored three runs, and while Ohmstede, Abrams, and Grote all collected two RBI.
Elon finished with 11 hits, led by Norton (2-for-3, 2 RBI), Lynch (2-for-4, RBI, run), and Quinn Bower (2-for-5).
Phoenix starter Matt Harris (3-2) was charged with the loss after yielding five runs on nine hits over seven innings. He walked five and fanned two.
