Athens, Ga. – No. 14 Georgia slugged five home runs and took advantage of four Furman errors to down the Paladins, 12-1, in non-conference softball action on Wednesday afternoon at Jack Turner Stadium in Athens, Ga. Game two of the schedule doubleheader was canceled due to rain and wet field conditions.
 
With the win, Georgia improved to 23-5, while Furman slipped to 7-19.
 
After Jordan Doggett reached on an error to start the bottom of the second inning, Mahlena O'Neal put Georgia in front with a two-run blast to center field off of Furman started Morgan Smith. Ciara Bryan reached on a two-out single and Sydney Kuma followed with a towering home run to center field to up the Bulldog lead to 5-1. Lacey Fincher made it back-to-back homers with a solo shot to center to give UGA a 6-1 advantage.
 
The Bulldogs added five more unearned runs in the third. An error started the frame and Bryan and Fincher each belted homers to extend the margin to 11-1.
 
Mary Wilson Avant (11-4) allowed a run on two hits over three innings to earn the win for Georgia. She struck out four batters without issuing a walk. Smith (3-12) took the loss for Furman, allowing 12 runs, just two earned, on 10 hits in four innings.
 
Georgia grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first when Bryan scored from third base on a throwing error, but Furman answered in the top of the second as Riley Ludlam lined a leadoff single to left field and scored on Mariah Bohl's two-out double into the left-center field gap.
 
Fincher finished 2-for-3 with a pair of homers and three RBIs to pace the Georgia offense. Ludlam collected a pair of hits for the Paladins.
 
Furman is scheduled to return to action this weekend with a three-game series at North Carolina A&T. The Paladins face the Aggies in a single game at 4 p.m. on Friday before concluding the series with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.