Furman 6, Winthrop 0
Furman 5, Winthrop 2
Rock Hill, S.C. -- Furman hammered four home runs, including a game-winning grand slam from Emma Ogburn in game two, and Paladin pitching limited Winthrop to just two runs over 14 innings in a 6-0, 5-2 doubleheader sweep of the Eagles on Tuesday evening at Terry Field in Rock Hill, S.C.
With the sweep, Furman ran its winning streak to six games and improved to 21-16 on the season. Winthrop slipped to 20-22.
Furman 6, Winthrop 0
Furman blasted three home runs and junior Lindsey Bert hurled a three-hit shutout as the Paladins claimed a 6-0 victory in game one.
Bert, who improved to 11-8 in the circle, retired 13 of the final 15 batters she faced with the only two to reach base over the final four innings coming on a wild pitch on strike three and a Paladin error. The left-hander fanned seven batters and walked just one in the victory. She also registered two hits at the plate.
Furman grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first as Caroline Cash reached on a leadoff single, stole second and scored on Casey Bigham's two-out base hit. Cash doubled the lead with a solo blast off of the scoreboard in right-center field to lead off the third inning. AnnaRose Borrelli's fifth-inning homer, her seventh roundtripper of the season stretched the advantage to 3-0 and Candace Johnson put the game out of reach with a three-run clout to straightaway center field in the top of the sixth inning.
Cash went 2-for-4 in game one and scored three of the Paladins six runs. Borrelli reached in all three trips to the plate.
Kiley Majette suffered the loss for Winthrop to fall to 11-12. She gave up two runs on five hits in four innings, while fanning three batters and walking one.
Furman 5, Winthrop 2
In the nightcap, Emily Demonte tossed seven effective innings and Emma Ogburn capped a sixth-inning rally with a grand slam to help Furman to a 5-2 victory.
Trailing 2-0 with two outs and nobody on base in the top of the sixth inning, Borrelli singled through the left side and Elise Smith followed with a soft line drive single to right-center. Sarah Windham drew a base on balls to load the bases against Winthrop starter Keleigh Romine before Taylor Vahle lined a pinch-hit, RBI single to left to put Furman on the board and trim the Eagles' lead to 2-1. On an 0-1 count, Ogburn belted a Romine pitch over the left field fence for her first homer of the campaign to put the Paladins in front, 5-2.
Demonte, who improved to 7-8 on the season, worked out of trouble in the bottom of the sixth to strand a pair of runners and left two more on base in the bottom of the seventh to pick up the win. She allowed just two runs and did not walk a batter, while scattering 10 hits over seven innings. The Sumter, S.C. native finished with three strikeouts.
Smith collected a pair of hits to lead Furman's six-hit attack. Winthrop, who plated its two runs on a sacrifice fly by Maddie Antone and RBI single from Ashley Westbrooks in the third inning, finished with 10 hits. Ansley Gilreath went 3-for-3 for the Eagles, while Morgan Lowers and Westbrooks each notched two hits.
Romine (3-6) suffered the loss by allowing five runs on five hits in 5.2 innings in the circle. She walk two batters and struck out two.
The Paladins open an eight-game homestand on Friday when they welcome Mercer to Greenville, S.C., for a three-game Southern Conference series. The series begins with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Friday and is set to conclude with a single game on Sunday at 12 p.m.
Fans can follow video streaming of the series on YouTube and live statistics via StatBroadcast. Links for both will be available at FurmanPaladins.com.
Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information
