GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Cameron Whitehead's two-out, two-run single in the seventh inning gave Furman the lead and Ryan Griffith and Elliott Warford combined to keep it that way over the final two innings to deliver a 9-8 win over The Citadel in Southern Conference baseball action Friday at Latham Stadium.

The victory squares the series between the Paladins (24-30, 11-12 SoCon) and Bulldogs (24-28, 9-14 SoCon) at a game apiece heading into Saturday's 1:00 p.m. finale.  More importantly, though, it ensured Furman would avoid next Tuesday's Southern Conference Tournament single elimination play-in game between the eighth and ninth seeds, which will now be The Citadel and East Tennessee State.

A Furman win over The Citadel on Saturday will give the Paladins the SoCon Tournament's No. 5 seed while a loss to the Bulldogs will send Furman into tournament play at Charleston's Joseph P. Riley Park as the No. 6 seed.

Whitehead's go-ahead hit to right center field came on the second pitch he saw from Bulldog reliever Austin Mason (1-2) and drove home Chris Ohmstede and Jordan Simpson, who had opened the frame with an infield single and ground rule double down the left field line, respectively.  Mason battled back to strike out Brandon Elmy and Landon Kay, but he couldn't get Whitehead, whose decisive base knock gave the sophomore catcher a measure of redemption from Thursday night's game when his blistering line drive in the eighth inning with the go-ahead run at second base was snagged in a leaping grab by Bulldog shortstop Johnathan Stokes.

Warford relieved Griffith with one down and a runner on in the eighth and retired the two batters he faced to end the inning.

Paladin shortstop Sims Griffith's throwing error put Stokes on base to start the ninth.  After a wild pitch and a groundout moved Stokes to third, Warford hit Citadel's Stephen Windham with a pitch but rallied to strike out Drew Ellis for the second out and get Clay Martin on a pop into short left field to end the game.

Whitehead went 2-for-4 and also scored a run in the contest that saw Furman grab a 4-0 first inning lead against Bulldog starting pitcher JP Sears.  An RBI single by Griffin Davis opened the scoring, and Ohmstede's two-run double into the left field corner made it 3-0.  Elmy completed the outburst with a sacrifice fly.

The Bulldogs chipped away at the lead, tallying a run in the third and another in the fourth before tagging Paladin starting pitcher Matthew Quarles for five runs in the fifth to go up 7-4, the big blows coming on a Connor Walsh two-run single and Windham's two-run home run to left field.

Furman answered with two in its half of the fifth on Ohmstede's second double of the game and a Simpson RBI single — both coming with two outs — and tied it at 7-7 an inning later, taking advantage of a Bulldog error to score a run.

The Citadel regained the lead with a run in the seventh, but Whitehead's two-run single in the Furman seventh erased the advantage.

Ohmstede went 3-for-4, drove in three runs, and scored three times to pace Furman's 13-hit attack.  His three RBI improved his season total to 56, just four shy of the school record of 60 set by Brent Williams in 1991.

Jake Jones, Simpson, and Grote collected two hits apiece for the Paladins.

Austin Mapes led The Citadel, going 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored while Windham and Ellis left the yard for the Bulldogs.

Ryan Griffith (1-2) pitched 2 1/3 innings of effective relief to earn the victory, allowing a run on one hit.  He walked two and struck out two.

The save was the sixth on the season for Warford, who fanned two over the final 1 2/3 innings while not allowing a hit.

Mason was charged with the loss after working two innings and allowing three runs, two earned, on four hits.

Furman will honor its nine seniors in ceremonies prior to Saturday's regular season finale.