Furman 9, Youngstown State 1 (5 inn.)
Radford 2, Furman 1
Greenville, S.C. -- Furman softball downed Youngstown State, 9-1, but dropped a 2-1 decision to Radford on Saturday afternoon in the Upstate Classic at Pepsi Stadium.
Furman 9, Youngstown 1 (5 inn.)
Senior Elise Smith made the most of her first start of the season by holding the Penguins to just one run on four hits over five innings to improve to 2-0 in the circle. The Johns Creek, Ga., native fanned six batters without allowing a walk and went 1-for-3 with an RBI to help her cause at the plate.
Furman took an early lead with three runs in the bottom of the first with two outs. Casey Bigham reached on a two-out single, Lindsey Bert walked and Carolina Cash drew a base on balls to load the bases before AnnaRose Borrelli lined a two-run single up the middle. Smith followed with a run-scoring safety to right field to up the lead to 3-0.
The Paladins scored a run on a hit batter with the bases loaded in the second inning and Kalie Hicks hammered a solo blast down the left field line in the third to up the lead to 5-1. In the fifth, Hicks singled, Brittany Houston reached on a fielder's choice and Courtney Jacobs singled to load the bases with nobody out. Pinch hitter Hannah Reynolds was hit by a pitch to force in one run and Bigham worked a walk to increase the margin to 7-1. Bert lined a double into the right field corner to plate two runs and trigger the mercy rule.
Caitlyn Minney (1-5) took the loss for the Penguins (2-11, allowing nine runs on 11 hits in four-plus innings of work. She walked five batters and fanned one.
Jacobs, Bert and Hicks each collected a pair of hits for the Paladins, while Houston and Hicks both scored two runs.
Radford 2, Furman 1
Radford, who downed Youngstown State, 3-1, in the opening game of the day, completed the sweep by topping Furman, 2-1.
Abby Morrow (7-3) surrendered just an unearned run on four hits in a complete-game effort to go with four strikeouts.
The Highlanders (8-6) took the lead in the top of the third inning when Hannah Medlam blooped a double down the right field line and later scored on Mallory Marsicek's sacrifice fly to right field. Radford added a second run in the top of the fourth. Sofia Tapia drew a leadoff walk, stole second base, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored when a one-hopper to third deflected off of Hicks glove, allowing Maggie Rowe to reach safely with two outs.
Furman got a run in the fifth as Borrelli reached base and advanced to second on an error by the Highlander third baseman before pinch runner Caroline Nageotte scored on Houston's two-out single down the left field line. The Paladins got a two-out single from Smith in the seventh, but Redford's Rowe threw out a pinch runner attempting to steal second base to end the game.
Bert suffered the loss for Furman after giving up one earned run on five hits over seven innings. She walked two batters and fanned six.
Furman (9-11) finishes the Upstate Classic on Sunday at 12 p.m. with a single game against Youngstown State.
Live statistics links for all Upstate Classic games at Pepsi Stadium will be available through StatBroadcast at Paladinslive.com. Live stats links and video links for games involving the Paladins can be found at FurmanPaladins.com.
Admission to Pepsi Stadium is free for all home games.
Upstate Classic (@ Pepsi Stadium)
Friday
11:00 - Canisius 12, Dayton 4 (6 inn.)
1:00 - Canisius 3, Furman 0
2:00 - Dayton 2, Furman 0
Saturday
11:00 - Radford 3, Youngstown State 1
1:00 - Furman 9, Youngstown State 1 (5 inn.)
3:00 - Radford 2, Furman 1
Sunday
12:00 - Youngstown State vs. Furman
Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information
