Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina's Jayme Eilers and Savannah Rice combined to hold Furman to just two runs on seven hits over 14 innings as the first place Catamounts swept the Paladins 2-0, 6-2 on Saturday afternoon at the Catamount Softball Complex.
The Catamounts increased their lead in the Southern Conference standings by improving to 24-21 overall and 11-2 in league play. Furman dropped to 18-24 overall and 7-6 in the SoCon.
Game 1: Western Carolina 2, Furman 0
Eilers, who has tossed a no-hitter versus North Carolina A&T in her previous outing, tossed a three-hit shutout to pace the Catamounts to a 2-0 victory over Furman in Saturday's the series opener.
The Catamounts took advantage of a pair of two-out walks and a Furman error to grab a 1-0 lead in the first inning and doubled the advantage on Kailey McNeil's RBI single in the bottom of the third.
Furman tried to mount a rally in the top of the seventh.
Riley Ludlam led off the frame with a double to center field. After a pop up and strikeout,
Kaitlyn Laudick reached on an infield single and moved to second base to put two runners in scoring position with two outs. Eilers, however, fanned pinch hitter
Shelby Basso to end the Paladin threat.
Freshman
Sierra Tufts (8-11) suffered the loss for Furman despite allowing just one earned run on three hits over five and one-third innings of work. She walked four batters and struck out two.
Eilers fanned nine batters over seven scoreless innings to improve to 12-10 in the circle for Western Carolina.
Game 2: Western Carolina 6, Furman 2
Rice continued the Catamounts' strong work in the circle in game two by tossing a complete game as Western Carolina topped Furman, 6-2.
After McNeil singled up the middle, stole second base and scored on an error to give the Catamounts a 1-0 lead in the second inning, Bailey Huneycutt and McNeil blasted back-to-back homers in the fourth off of Paladin starter
Bailey Tanner to stretch their lead to 3-0. Furman's
Claire Ginder answered with a solo shot to centerfield in the top of the fifth, but a walk and bunt single in the bottom of the fifth set the table for Lindsay Perillo, who hammered a three-run blast to put WCU in front 6-1.
Ludlam led off the seventh inning with a solo homer to left field to trim the Catamount lead to 6-2 before Rice retired the next three batters to improve to 12-10 in the circle. Rice allowed just four hits and two runs over seven innings, while striking out four Paladins. She did not issue a walk.
Tanner dropped to 6-6 on the year after allowing three earned runs on three hits in four-plus innings of work. She walked two batters and did not record a strikeout.
Ludlam went 2-for-3 at the plate for the Paladins, while McNeil and Huneycutt each recorded a pair of hits for the Catamounts.
Furman and Western Carolina conclude their three-game series with a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday in Cullowhee, N.C. Fans can listen to play-by-play on the Catamount Sports Network and follow live statistics by logging onto FurmanPaladins.com.
