Greenville, S.C. – Freshman Shelby Basso allowed just an unearned run over seven innings in game one and senior Amanda Fleming belted her first career home run in game two as Furman swept a Southern Conference softball doubleheader from preseason league favorite UNCG, 4-1, 11-7, on Friday afternoon at Pepsi Stadium.
 
Game 1: Furman 4, UNCG 1
 
In the SoCon opener for Furman, Basso limited the Spartans to an unearned run on three hits and picked up her third victory of the year in the circle with the Paladins 4-1 triumph.
 
Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth, Furman rallied when freshman Claire Ginder singled and scored when Emily Bartlett lined a base hit to right field on a hit-and-run. The junior got in a run down between first and second allowing Ginder to sprint home with the tying run.
 
After Natalie Morgan walked and scored with the help of two Spartan errors in the bottom of the fifth inning, Furman plated two insurance runs in the sixth. Bartlett drew a walk and pinch runner Chrissy Fleming moved to third on Mackense Greico's one-out base hit. Morgan singled to right field to plate the Paladins' third run of the day and Amanda Fleming followed with a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 4-1.
 
Basso, a right-hander from Henderson, Nev., fanned six batters and issued just two walks over seven innings to improve to 3-4 in the circle. UNCG starter Morgan Scott suffered the loss despite striking out 12 batters in six innings of work. She allowed four runs on four hits.
 
Bartlett and Morgan each registered a single and base on balls to lead the Paladin offense.
 
Game 2: Furman 11, UNCG 7
 
In game two, Furman notched 10 hits and took advantage of four UNCG errors to plate 11 runs off of Spartan starter Hannah Stiltner as the Paladins claimed an 11-7 victory.
 
The Paladins took the lead in the bottom of the first with two runs, highlighted by a solo home run off of the bat of Greico. After UNCG knotted the game in the top of the second, Furman answered when Ashlee Lykins singled and scored on an error.
 
A two-run home run by Samantha Lagrama and an RBI double from Jordan Grontram gave the Spartans a 5-3 advantage in the top of the third inning, but Furman quickly responded with two more runs. An error and hit batter set the table for the Paladins before Greico and Chloe Fabio delivered RBI singles to even game two at 5-5 after three innings.
 
Furman fell behind again in the top of the fourth, but the Paladins grabbed the lead for good the next half inning. Ginder reached on a two-out single and scored from first base on Bartlett's double into the opposite field gap. Greico singled through the right side to plate Bartlett and give the Paladins a 7-6 lead.
 
The Paladins added four insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth to take an 11-6 lead. Ginder opened the frame with a solo blast to left field. Bartlett singled and Greico's grounder was misplayed to put two runners on base. Following a strikeout by Morgan, Fleming hammered a three-run homer off of the scoreboard in left-center, her first career homer, to put Furman ahead by five runs.
 
Junior Bailey Tanner (2-3), who pitched three effective innings in relief of starter Sierra Tufts, earned the victory. She allowed just a run on one hit over three innings while fanning three batters. Stiltner (2-4) allowed 11 runs, seven earned, on 10 hits over five and one-third to absorb the loss for UNCG.
 
Greico went 3-for-4 at the plate with a homer and three RBI for the Paladins, while Ginder and Bartlett recorded two hits apiece. Fleming finished 1-for-3 with a homer, base on balls and three RBI.
 
The Paladins (8-14, 2-0 SoCon) and Spartans (16-10, 2-3 SoCon) conclude their three-game weekend series on Saturday. First pitch is slated for noon at the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.