Greenville, S.C. -- Candace Johnson and Sieara Bishop belted back-to-back home runs and Emily Demonte tossed a complete game to lead Furman to a 4-1 victory over Western Carolina in the 2016 home finale for the Paladins on Sunday afternoon at Pepsi Stadium.

With the victory, Furman took 2-of-3 from the Catamounts to claim their second consecutive Southern Conference series. The Paladins improved to 26-25 overall and 7-8 in the league. Western Carolina slipped to 31-21 overall and 7-8 in the SoCon.

After two and a half scoreless frames, Brittany Houston drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the third inning and left-handed hitting Candace Johnson broke the tie with a two-run blast to the opposite field on a 1-0 pitch from Western Carolina starter Courtney Buchanan. The home run, her 11th of the season, moved Johnson into first on Furman's single season home runs ledger.

Bishop, who established the single season mark for long balls with 10 last year, followed Johnson with a towering solo shot down the left field line for her seventh round tripper of the season. The homer also moved Bishop into fifth on Furman's career list for RBI (100), and she later singled to reach fifth in school history with her 202nd career base hit.

Furman added an insurance run an inning later as Emma Ogburn opened the bottom of the fourth with a line drive single to left field, moved to third base on Taylor Collins sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch before scoring on Houston's single to center field.

The Catamounts used a hit batsman and two singles to load the bases with nobody out in the top of the fifth, but Demonte (8-7) limited WCU to just one run by inducing back-to-back fielder's choices and a fly out.

The freshman from Sumter, S.C., held Western Carolina to just the single run on four hits over seven innings, while she fanned three batters and allowed only one base on balls.

Buchanan allowed three runs on three hits in two-plus innings to absorb the loss and fall to 12-5 in the circle.

Bishop finished 2-for-3 with a single, homer and base on balls in her final home game as a Paladin, while Johnson homered and walked in four plate appearances. Houston went 2-for-2 with a pair of singles and a walk.

The Paladins play their final regular season non-conference contest on Tuesday when they travel to Columbia, S.C., to face SEC foe South Carolina in a single game. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the SEC Network +.

Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information