Greenville, S.C. – Bailey Tanner picked up a pair of wins in the circle and
Riley Ludlam and
Claire Ginder drove in four runs apiece to lead Furman to an 8-6, 7-4 doubleheader sweep of Charleston Southern on Tuesday afternoon at Pepsi Stadium.
With the sweep, Furman improved to 15-20 on the season and extended its winning streak to five games. The Bucs dropped to 10-22 on the year.
Game 1: Furman 8, Charleston Southern 6
Ludlam went 3-for-4 with a double, homer and four RBI to power Furman to an 8-6 victory over Charleston Southern in game one.
The Paladins plated at least one run in all six frames to rally from an early 4-1 deficit. Down 4-2 after two-and-a-half innings, Ludlam belted a two-run homer to center field to pull the Paladins even in the bottom of the third. With runners at first and second base and two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Ludlam swung at strike three but reached base as Charleston Southern's catch failed to handle the pitch and fired the ball over the head of the first baseman.
Natalie Morgan and
Ashlee Lykins raced home to give Furman a 6-4 lead.
After the Bucs knotted the game at 6-6 with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth, Furman took the lead for good in the bottom of the inning.
Amanda Fleming worked a leadoff walk, moved to second on a sacrifice and advanced to third on an error. Lykins followed with a grounder to second to drive her home. In the sixth inning, Morgan drew a leadoff walk and scored on Ludlam's single two batters later to double the lead.
Tanner, who started for the Paladins, allowed four runs over the first two and one-third innings, but pitched two and one-third innings of scoreless relief after reentering the game in the fifth inning in place of
Shelby Basso. She picked up the victory after allowing four runs on five hits over four and two-thirds total innings of work.
Mackense Greico went 2-for-3 with a base on balls, while Lykins finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and a pair of stolen bases in the opener.
Reliever Baylee Eaton suffered the loss for the Bucs after giving up four runs on three hits in three innings of work. Sarah Brown and Ashley Meckley each went 2-for-3 with three RBI to lead the Charleston Southern offense in game one.
Game 2: Furman 7, Charleston Southern 4
In game two, Furman rallied from a 4-1 deficit with six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to down the Bucs, 7-4.
Charleston Southern took advantage of an error and a walk to take a 1-0 lead in the first inning and Ashley Meckley belted a solo home run in the top of the fourth to up the margin to 2-0. Two walks and bunt single set the table for the Bucs in the sixth. Madison Koger drove in one run with a sacrifice fly and the Bucs plated another run on a throwing error to stretch their lead to 4-1.
In the bottom the sixth,
Emily Bartlett singled, Ludlam doubled and Greico worked a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Ginder followed with a towering grand slam to straightaway center field to put Furman in front 5-4. A bunt single and sacrifice bunt put another runner in scoring position before Morgan ripped a double into the gap to score Fleming. Morgan stole third base and raced on with the Paladins' seventh run when Charleston Southern's throw skipped into left field.
Tanner, who worked two scoreless innings in game two to earn her second win of the day, retired the Bucs in the top of the seventh to move to 6-3 in the circle.
Starer Alyssa Heinrich (3-7) took the loss for CSU. She allowed seven runs on seven hits in five and two-thirds innings in the circle.
Furman returns to action on Wednesday with a doubleheader versus N.C. State at Dail Softball Stadium. Wednesday's 1 p.m. doubleheader in Raleigh, N.C., will be streamed on ACC Network Xtra.
NOTE: Due to the threat of inclement weather this weekend, Furman and Chattanooga will play a single game on Saturday at Pepsi Stadium at 6 p.m. before concluding the SoCon series with a doubleheader on Sunday at 1 p.m.
