Boiling Springs, N.C. – Senior
Tess Griswold belted a three-run, walk-off homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to rally Furman to a 6-5 victory over Harvard and a sweep on the opening day of Gardner-Webb's Red and Black Tournament Friday at Brinkley Stadium. The Paladins topped North Carolina Central, 6-3, in game one.
Trailing 5-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Furman loaded the bases on a walk, hit batter and Harvard error.
Riley Ludlam delivered a sacrifice fly to left field to trim the margin to 5-3 before Griswold launched a 1-2 pitch over the left-center field fence into a stiff wind to complete the four-run frame.
The win, Furman's third straight, improved the Paladins to 4-12 while the Crimson dropped to 1-5 on the season.
Harvard grabbed an early 3-0 lead on an RBI single by Allison Heffley in the first and a two-out, two-run base hit from Trina Hoang in the top of the second inning. After
Casey Bigham put Furman on the board with an RBI single and
Caroline Nageotte scored on a wild pitch in the fourth inning, the Crimson pushed across single runs in the fifth and sixth innings before the Paladins' four-run seventh.
Bailey Tanner (3-5) earned the victory for Furman after allowing five runs on 10 hits in seven innings of work. Griswold went 2-for-4 with three RBI, while Bigham reached base four times with two singles and two walks.
Lindsay Poulos (1-3) suffered the loss for Harvard, allowing three runs, just one earned, on six hits in six and one-third innings in the circle. Hoang went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs for the Crimson.
Tanner surrendered just two hits in five innings of work and Ludlam went 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs to lead Furman to a 6-3 victory over North Carolina Central on Friday morning.
Ludlam put Furman ahead with an RBI single in the second inning before Bigham doubled and scored on
Morgan Smith's grounder in the third to up the lead to 2-0. The Paladins plated three runs in the bottom of the fourth, highlighted by
Mariah Bohl's RBI triple to right field and
Natalie Morgan's two-out, bloop double that scored Bohl.
Tanner (2-5) allowed just a run on two hits to pick up her second win of the season. The sophomore fanned three batters and walked two.
Morgan and Bigham doubled for the Paladins, while Smith went 1-for-1 with an RBI and two walks.
Kiara Hurley (0-7) suffered the loss for the Eagles after giving up six runs, three earned, on six hits over four-plus innings of work.
The Paladins continue play in Gardner-Webb's Red and Black Tournament tomorrow when they face Gardner-Webb at 12 p.m. on ESPN+ and battle N.C. Central at 4 p.m.
