Greensboro, N.C. -- Junior Elise Smith drove in four runs and sophomore Lindsey Bert tossed four innings of dominant relief to lead Furman to a 7-4 victory over Western Carolina in an elimination game at the Southern Conference Softball Championship on Thursday morning in Greensboro, N.C.

The Paladins advanced to face the loser of this afternoon's Samford/UNCG matchup in a 5:30 p.m. elimination game later today. With the victory, Furman improved to 30-26 on the season and secured back-to-back 30-win seasons for the first time since 1994-95.

Furman looked to be in control leading 6-2 through three-and-a-half innings, but Western Carolina mounted a rally in the bottom of the fourth. Hunter Gibbons singled and Courtney Price doubled to open the inning and Karley Harkey worked a walk to load the bases. Madison Armstrong stroked a two-run single to center to trim the Paladin lead to 6-4 and moved into scoring position on the throw to the plate.

With runners at second and third and nobody out, Bert entered the game in relief of starter Emily Demonte. The left-hander fanned Amber Kimrey before firing to the plate to throw out the lead runner after fielding Kara Salvo's sacrifice bunt. Catcher Emma Ogburn threw out Salvo attempting to steal second base to end the rally and preserve the lead.

Bert tossed four innings of shutout, one-hit relief to earn the victory and improve to 19-16 in the circle. She fanned five Catamounts without issuing a walk.

Furman had grabbed the lead in the second inning when Smith launched a solo shot off of the scoreboard in right-centerfield to give the Paladins a 1-0 lead and establish a new school single season home run mark with her team's 55th roundtripper of the campaign.

Western Carolina used a sacrifice fly from Armstrong and an RBI single from Kimrey to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second. In the top of the third, Sieara Bishop led off the inning by reaching base on an error, Bert drew a one-out walk and Candace Johnson singled to load the bases. After WCU starter Taylor Sigmon retired AnnaRose Borrelli on strikes, Smith doubled off of the right field fence to drive in three runs and give the Paladins a 4-2 advantage.

Johnson helped Furman add two more runs in the fourth with a two-out single up the middle that drove in Bishop and Brittany Houston.

Sigmon (13-16) suffered the loss for Western Carolina, allowing six runs on six hits in 4.1 innings. Armstrong drove in three runs for the Catamounts, while Price went 2-for-2 and scored a pair of runs.

Bishop scored three times for the Paladins, while Johnson, Smith and Ogburn collected two hits apiece.

Outfielder Taylor Collins provided two of the biggest highlights in the Paladin victory as she reached over the left field wall to rob Gibbons of a second-inning homer and ended the game by making a sliding catch in center field.

The tournament runs through Saturday and all of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday's games will be streamed live on the SoCon Digital Network with Saturday's championship round set to be streamed on ESPN3. Links for both live streaming and live statistics will be available at SoConSports.com and FurmanPaladins.com.


Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information