Furman 1, Toledo 0
Furman 7, Sacred Heart 4
Greenville, S.C. -- Junior Lindsey Bert tossed a two-hit shutout in a 1-0 victory over Toledo and came on in relief to pick up the win in a 7-4 decision against Sacred Heart to lead Furman to a sweep on the opening day of the Buffalo Wild Wings Classic on Friday at Pepsi Stadium.
Furman 1, Toledo 0
In Furman's first game of the weekend, Bert retired the first 17 batters and faced just one above the minimum in a 1-0 shutout of Toledo (2-10).
Furman got on the board in the third inning as Andrea Abbatiello walked, reached second on a muffed throw by the second baseman and scored from second on Caroline Cash's infield single off the glove of Rockets' pitcher Kailey Minarchick.
Bert dominated over the first five innings before allowing a two-out single through the left side in the top of the sixth to Marriah Wise. Catcher Emma Ogburn promptly erased the threat by throwing out Wise as she attempted to steal second. Toledo recorded another single with one out in the seventh, but Bert retired the next two batters to end the game. She fanned seven without issuing a walk over seven innings.
Cash went 2-for-3 with a double and drove in the lone run for the Paladins.
Minarchick (1-3) gave up an unearned run on four hits over six innings to absorb the loss for Toledo.
Furman 7, Sacred Heart 4
In the nightcap, Furman (6-8) rallied with three runs in the bottom of the fifth and Bert hurled 2.1 innings of effective relief to help Furman to a 7-4 victory over Sacred Heart.
With the game tied at 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth, Bert reached on a swinging bunt to leadoff the Paladin rally and moved to third base on AnnaRose Borrelli's one-out single off the glove of the second baseman. Casey Bigham followed with an RBI single up the middle to restore the Paladin lead before Emma Ogburn landed a perfectly placed double into the left-center field gap to plate two more runs and up the Furman advantage to 7-4.
Bert, who had allowed a game-tying double after entering the game with two outs in the top of the fifth, surrendered just one more hit the rest of the way to earn the victory and improve to 4-4. The left-hander struck out two batters without allowing a walk over 2.1 innings.
Starter Kristen McCann (0-1) took the loss for the Pioneers after giving up seven runs on eight hits in 4.1 innings of work.
Furman grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning as Courtney Jacobs scored on a wild pitch and Borrelli drove in a second run with a sacrifice fly to right field. Brittany Houston doubled down the third base line to plate Sarah Windham and increase the Paladin lead to 3-0 in the second.
Sacred Heart (1-1), who opened the day with a 3-0 victory versus Toledo, answered with a three-spot in the top of the third off Furman starter Emily Demonte. Three singles loaded the bases with one out and Kelyn Fillmore drove in a run with a ground out to second base. Victoria D'Addario's two-run double to the gap tied the game.
Houston walked and scored on a passed ball to give Furman a 4-3 lead in the fourth before Sacred Heart tied the game in the top of the fifth. Fillmore doubled down the line to chase Demonte and D'Addario greeted Bert with an RBI double down the line to tie the game at 4-4.
Cash and Jacobs each recorded two hits for the Paladins in the second win of the day.
The Buffalo Wild Wings Classic continues tomorrow with Furman hosting Howard at 11 a.m. Delaware State and Sacred Heart will battle at 1 p.m. before Furman takes on Delaware State at 3 p.m. Sacred Heart and Howard will close the tournament with a 5 p.m. contest at Pepsi Stadium.
Log onto FurmanPaladins.com for live stat links and video streaming links for this weekend's games. Admission to Pepsi Stadium is free for all home games.
Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information
