Birmingham, Ala. -- Furman scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning and held off a Samford rally in the bottom of the frame to capture a 6-5 victory in the Southern Conference opener for both schools on Saturday at Samford Softball Field.
Game two of the three-game series was suspended with Furman leading 4-1 in the bottom of the fifth and will be completed at 1 p.m. CT on Sunday prior to the series finale.
Trailing 4-3 entering the seventh inning, Furman mounted a two-out rally by loading the bases on walks to Candace Johnson, AnnaRose Borrelli and Elise Smith. Samford's Grey Adams then issued free passes to Kalie Hicks and Casey Bigham that forced in pinch runners Andrea Abbatiello and Caroline Nageotte to give the Paladins a 5-4 lead. Taylor Vahle capped the rally with an RBI single to up the Paladin lead to 6-4.
Furman hurler Lindsey Bert retired the first two batters in the bottom half of the inning, but Whitney Hinton, Madison Couch and Shelby Maze reached base on consecutive two-out singles to load the bases. Abbie Miranda reached on a single to the pitcher to drive in a run, however, Couch was thrown out on the play at third base to end the game.
Bert (8-7) picked up the win after allowing five runs on eight hits in seven innings of work. The left-hander fanned seven batters while issuing three walks. Adams (5-9) surrendered six runs on eight hits in 6.2 innings to absorb the loss for the Bulldogs.
The Paladins jumped out to a 3-0 lead as Johnson belted a solo homer in the first inning and Bigham delivered a two-run clout, her first career homer, in the top of the second inning. Hinton followed three straight two-out walks in the bottom of the second with a bases clearing double into the left-center field gap to knot the game at 3-3.
Samford took the lead in the bottom of the sixth as Maze led off the frame with a bunt single, moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Hannah Trombley's two-out, RBI double.
Bigham finished 2-for-2 with three runs batted in, while Johnson also collected two hits.
In the second game, Johnson broke a 1-1 tie with a three-run blast to stake the Paladins to a 4-1 lead. Samford loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning against Furman starter Emily Demonte when the game was suspended due to weather.
Fans can log onto FurmanPaladins.com to follow live statistics of both games on Sunday via StatBroadcast.
Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information
