Greenville, S.C. – Furman looks to keep its chances alive for a Southern Conference regular season title and move one step closer to a berth in this month's SoCon Softball Championship when the Paladins visit first-place Western Carolina for a three-game series this weekend in Cullowhee, N.C.
The Paladins and Catamounts will play a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday at the Catamount Softball Complex before closing the series with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m. There will be no video stream for this weekend's series, but the Catamount Sports Network will carry a live audio feed of each game. Links to the radio feed and live statistics can be found at FurmanPaladins.com.
Furman enters this weekend's series at 18-23 overall and 7-4 in the SoCon, while the Catamounts are 22-21 overall and 9-2 in league play. The Paladins hold a 34-16 lead in the all-time series between the schools and have won six of the last seven meetings, including taking two-of-three in the last meetings during the 2019 season in Cullowhee.
Western Carolina holds a half-game lead on second place UNCG (9-3) and two-game advantage on third place Furman (7-4) entering the penultimate weekend of conference play. Following this weekend's three-game set, Furman will close the regular season by hosting Mercer for three games and the Catamounts will visit the Spartans for a three-game series. Only the top four teams in the final SoCon standings earn a spot in the SoCon Softball Championship with the regular season champion receiving the opportunity to host the tournament.
The Paladins swept a doubleheader from Presbyterian 5-2, 2-0 on Wednesday to run its record to 8-3 in its last 11 outings. Furman's young pitching trio of junior
Bailey Tanner, freshman
Sierra Tufts and freshman
Shelby Basso combined to limit the Blue Hose to just two solo home runs over 14 innings of work in the sweep.
Mackense Greico, who leads the Paladins hitting .357 with eight homers and 33 RBI, delivered a two-run double in the opening inning of game one. Junior
Emily Bartlett worked three walks and scored both Paladin runs in game two.
Following Sunday's series finale, Furman will close out its non-conference schedule by hosting Presbyterian in a 5 p.m. doubleheader on Wednesday at Pepsi Stadium. The Paladins and Mercer Bears open their three-game series at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 8, with a doubleheader.
