GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Sims Griffith belted a two-out, two-run home run in the sixth inning to power Furman past The Citadel, 4-2, in the opening game of a three-game Southern Conference baseball series Friday evening at Latham Stadium.

The win, the ninth in the last 10 games for Furman (20-21, 8-8 SoCon), marked the Paladins' seventh straight conference triumph and put head coach Brett Harker's squad in position to claim its third straight league series in Saturday's contest, which has been moved to a noon start due to weather concerns.

The loss was the fifth straight for The Citadel (12-27, 3-10 SoCon) and fourth consecutive setback to Furman.

With the score tied 2-2 and with two outs in the sixth, Landon Kay singled to left field and Griffith followed with a two-run blast down the left line to stretch the advantage to 4-2.

Paladin starting pitcher Grant Schuermann (4-4) kept it that way by working a scoreless seventh, followed by Heath Hawkins, who retired the Bulldogs in order in the eighth.  Tyler Kimbrell slammed the door in the ninth with a pair of strikeouts to notch his first save as a Paladin.

Schuermann, the redshirt sophomore left-hander making his second straight Friday night start, earned the victory, allowing two runs, one of which was earned, on nine hits.  He struck out five and did not walk batter.

The Citadel took a 2-0 lead behind their ace, junior left-hander J.P. Sears (4-2), getting two-out RBI singles in both the third and fourth innings, but the advantage didn't last.  Carter Grote led off the Furman fourth by hammering a one-ball, two-strike pitch from Sears over the left field fence to make it 2-1.  Sky Overton followed with a triple to center field and scored on a fielders choice, sliding into home just ahead of the tag by Citadel catcher Cole Bufffington.

It remained tied until Griffith delivered what proved to be his game winning two-run blast in the sixth — his third round tripper of the season.

Sears was charged with the loss, allowing all four Paladin runs on seven hits.  He walked one and fanned six.

Overton and Jabari Richards had two hits apiece to lead Furman, which finished with eight hits.

Sabo's 3-for-4 work at the plate led The Citadel's nine-hit attack.

Hunter Reid, Furman Sports Information