Macon, Ga. -- Sophomore AnnaRose Borrelli celebrated her 20th birthday on Sunday by belting two home runs and driving in three to lead Furman to an 8-2 victory over Mercer and three-game Southern Conference series sweep of the Bears in the regular season finale for the Paladins at Sikes Field.

The Matthews, N.C., native blasted a solo shot to centerfield to leadoff the top of the second inning to give Furman a 1-0 lead. Brittany Houston singled to drive in Hannah Reynolds later in the inning and Elise Smith worked a leadoff walk and pinch runner Lauren Duggar came around to score on Taylor Collins one-out, RBI single in the third inning.

Furman (29-26, 10-8 SoCon) stranded 12 runners on the day, but got the key hits it needed to finish off the Bears over the final two innings. With a runner on base and one out in the top of the sixth, Borrellii hammered a two-run shot to left-center field that gave the Paladins a 5-0 lead and moved her into a tie with teammate Candace Johnson on the school's single season home runs ledger with 12 roundtrippers.

In the seventh, Collins opened the frame with her eighth clout of the season and Sieara Bishop delivered an RBI base hit following a Taylor Vahle single and Mercer error. Courtney Jacobs finished the rally by driving in Bishop with a grounder to second base.

Left-hander Lindsey Bert held the Bears without an earned run over seven innings to claim the victory and improve to 18-15 in the circle. It marked Bert's 40th win in two seasons as a Paladin. Bert scattered nine hits and fanned two batters in the complete-game effort. She also went 3-for-5 with a double while hitting leadoff for the Paladins.

Collins finished 3-for-3, while Smith and Borrelli collected two hits apiece.

Mercer (20-31, 3-12 SoCon) starter Jill McElderry (4-10) took the loss for the Bears after allowing two runs on three hits in 1.1 innings of work. Shaila Warren totaled three hits for the Bears.

The Paladins finished the regular season by winning seven of its final nine conference games and clinching a winning record for the third consecutive season.

Furman will be idle next weekend before taking part in the SoCon Softball Championship on May 11-14, at UNCG Softball Stadium in Greensboro, N.C.


Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information