Johnson City, Tenn. – Junior Natalie Morgan belted two home runs while Sierra Tufts and Bailey Tanner combined on a five-hit shutout as Furman completed a three-game series sweep of ETSU with a 6-0 victory on Sunday afternoon at Betty Basler Field in Johnson City, Tenn.
 
With the sweep, Furman improved to 13-20 overall and 6-3 in the Southern Conference. The Bucs slipped to 13-17 overall and 1-11 in league play. The Paladins hold second place in the league standings with three weekends of SoCon play remaining. Only the top four teams advance to May's SoCon Softball Championship.
 
Morgan, a native of Martin, Ga., went 3-for-3 with solo home runs in the first and fifth innings and added a double in the sixth inning to power Furman to its first SoCon series sweep since April of 2018 and first sweep of a SoCon series on the road since taking three games from Western Carolina in Cullowhee, N.C., in April of 2017. The Paladins' catcher scored three runs, recorded a sacrifice and drove in two runs on the afternoon.
 
After Morgan put the Paladins in front with her first inning roundtripper, Riley Ludlam delivered an RBI single in the third inning to plate Claire Ginder and double the lead. Ashlee Lykins and Ginder posted back-to-back two-out, RBI singles in the fourth inning to up the margin to 4-0 before Morgan's second solo shot of the afternoon an inning later increased the Furman advantage to five runs. Morgan reached on a leadoff double in the seventh and capped the scoring by crossing the plate on Ludlam's single through the left side.
 
Ludlam went 3-for-4 with a couple of RBI, while Ginder and Mackense Greico collected two hits apiece. The Paladins totaled 13 hits in the series finale.
 
For the second straight day, Tufts (6-9) was dominating in the circle. The Chula Vista, Calif., product scattered three hits over five innings of work and did not issue a walk. She struck out four batters en route to her sixth win of the season.
 
Tanner, who earned both victories in Saturday's doubleheader, tossed two scoreless innings of relief to close out the game. She walked one and struck out one in her third appearance of the weekend.
 
Kelly Schmidt (7-7) took the loss for the Bucs after allowing four runs on eight hits in three and two-thirds innings in the circle.
 
Furman is back in action on Tuesday at 4 p.m. when it hosts Charleston Southern in a doubleheader at Pepsi Stadium. On Wednesday, the Paladins travel to Raleigh, N.C., to take on the N.C. State Wolfpack in a 1 p.m. twinbill before returning home next weekend to host the Chattanooga Mocs in a three-game series.