GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Jordan Simpson homered twice and Furman pounded out a season high 22 hits en route to a 20-6 victory over USC Upstate in baseball action Tuesday evening at Latham Stadium.

The win, Furman's third in its last four games, improves the Paladins to 16-19 on the season while the loss drops the Spartans to 13-24.

The 20 runs marked Furman highest output since beating Indiana, 24-10, in 2001. The Paladins banged out a season high four home runs, including a pair by Simpson, who clocked a three-run  job in the first inning and two-run shot in the fourth, part of a 3-for-4, five-RBI, three-run performance.  The two route jobs gave the junior second baseman a team leading 10 home runs on the campaign and the five RBI matched a career high.

A trio of freshmen contributed in a big way, led by Sims Griffith, who went 3-for-5 and drove in four runs, and Brandon Elmy, who homered, drove in two runs, and scored twice in a 3-for-4 performance.  Landon Kay hit Furman's final home run of the game, a three-run blast in a six-run eighth inning, capping a 3-for-6 effort at the plate that included three RBI and three runs scored.

Chris Ohmstede (3-for-5) and Jake Jones (2-for-5) both drove in a two runs for the heavy hitting Paladins.

Harry Norman (1-0) rode a six-run Furman first inning to the win, throwing a predetermined two innings of two-hit shutout ball as the Paladins showcased six pitchers in the contest.

Ohmstede's RBI single opened the scoring and was followed by Simpson's three-run round tripper to left field, giving the Paladins a 4-0 lead.  After a Cameron Whitehead single, Elmy rocketed a line drive over the left center field fence to stake Norman and the Paladins to a 6-0 advantage.

Furman made it 8-0 with Griffith's two-run single in the third and upped it to 10-0 an inning later on Simpson's second blast of the game, a two-run shot that landed at the base of a magnolia tree high up on the hill above the left field fence.

Leading 10-2 after six innings, the Paladins tacked on four more in the seventh and six in the eighth, highlighted by Griffith's two-run double down the left field line and Kay's three-run long ball, his second home run of the season.

Furman's early offensive explosion came at the expense of Spartan starting and losing pitcher Dylan Parker (2-2), who surrendered eight runs on 10 hits in just 2 1/3 innings.

Charlie Carpenter led USC Upstate, going 3-for-5 with three RBI.

The Paladins open a three-game Southern Conference series at Western Carolina on Friday.

Hunter Reid, Furman Sports Information