Birmingham, Ala. – Senior Morgan Smith tossed a complete-game shutout to power Furman to a 2-0 victory over the host Blazers Friday evening at Mary Bowers Field in the UAB Tournament. The victory, coupled with a 3-2 win over Jacksonville earlier in the afternoon, gave the Paladins a sweep on the opening day of the tournament.
 
Smith (3-8), a native of Morganton, N.C., scattered three hits over seven innings to earn her third victory of the season and notch her first career shutout. She walked two batters and struck out one while not allowing a hit after the third inning.
 
Furman (7-14) jumped into the lead early with single runs in the first and second innings. Back-to-back one-out singles by Casey Bigham and Tess Griswold set the table for Smith's RBI single in the first to put Furman in front. Natalie Morgan delivered a two-out double in the top of the second to plate Mariah Bohl, who had reached on a UAB error.
 
Griswold went 3-for-4 and Bigham collected two hits to pace Furman's nine-hit attack. The Paladins' victory marked their sixth in their last nine outings.
 
Cespedes suffered the loss for UAB (12-11) after allowing two runs on seven hits in four and one-third innings of work. She fanned seven batters and walked one.
 
On Saturday, Furman battles Jacksonville at 11 a.m. ET and matches up against the Colgate Raiders at 6:30 p.m. ET. Tournament play concludes on Sunday afternoon with a 12:30 p.m. first pitch versus UAB.
 
Fans can follow live statistics for all games this weekend at FurmanPaladins.com and updates will be available throughout the weekend by following @FurmanSoftball on Twitter. A live stream of Furman's two contests versus UAB will be available for a subscription fee.