Boiling Springs, N.C. – Senior Morgan Smith hurled six innings without allowing an earned run and slammed two home runs to power Furman to a 13-2 victory over North Carolina Central in non-conference softball action Saturday afternoon in the Red and Black Tournament at Brinkley Stadium in Boiling Springs, N.C.
 
Smith's first two-homer game highlighted a four-homer night for the Paladins (5-13), who also got clouts from sophomores Natalie Morgan and Savannah Hughes to claim their fourth win in their last five outings. Hughes opened the scoring with a two-out, two-run blast in the top of the second inning to stake the Paladins to a 2-0 lead. After Morgan's homer upped the advantage to 3-0 in the third inning, Emily Bartlett singled to start the fourth and Smith followed with a two-run blast to extend the lead to 5-0.
 
Following an RBI single from Morgan and an RBI ground out from Tess Griswold in the fifth inning, the Paladins exploded for six runs in the top of the sixth. Hughes walked and Amanda Fleming singled to begin the frame ahead of Casey Bigham's RBI double, her second two-bagger of the day. Morgan tripled to drive in two runs and scored on Riley Ludlam's double. With two outs, Smith cracked a two-run homer to cap the rally.
 
North Carolina Central got on the board with a couple of unearned runs in the sixth following two Paladin errors, but Smith retired the Eagles to force the mercy rule. Smith (2-7) allowed just four hits over six innings and fanned five batters to pick up her second win in the circle.
 
Morgan went 4-for-4 with a triple, homer and four RBIs, while Smith finished 2-for-4 with two homers and four RBIs. Bigham went 3-for-4 with a pair of double and Ludlam collected two hits, including a double as Furman totaled 15 hits.
 
Caroline Campbell allowed all 13 runs to absorb the loss for N.C. Central.
 
Furman concludes play in the Red and Black Tournament on Sunday at noon when they play host Gardner-Webb again. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.