Cullowhee, N.C. – Jayme Eilers tossed a complete game to pick up her second win of the weekend as Western Carolina completed a three-game Southern Conference series sweep of Furman with a 5-1 decision on Sunday afternoon at the Catamount Softball Complex in Cullowhee, N.C.
With the series sweep, first place Western Carolina improved to 25-21 overall and 12-2 in the conference. Furman dropped to 18-26 overall and 7-7 in SoCon play.
The Paladins'
Riley Ludlam opened the game with a solo homer run to left field, but Eilers (12-10) allowed just two hits the rest of the way to earn the win. The righthander punched out 10 batters and surrendered just three walks over seven innings of work.
Trailing 1-0, Western Carolina rallied with two runs in the bottom of the third inning and three more in the fourth inning. Lindsay Perillo doubled with two outs in the third to plate Addie Pate with the tying run and gave the Catamounts a 2-1 lead by scoring on Bailey Huneycutt's RBI single. In the bottom of the fourth, the Catamounts opened the frame with back-to-back singles and Kailey McNeil upped the lead to 3-1 by scoring on wild pitch. Savannah Baldwin walked, stole second and eventually scored on a double steal before Danielle Chapman singled with two outs to drive in Jeralynn Wells and increase WCU's advantage to 5-1.
Starter
Sierra Tufts (8-12) took the loss for Furman after allowing three runs on five hits over three-plus innings in the circle. The freshman issued one walk and struck out one.
Ashlee Lykins went 2-for-3 with a double for the Paladins.
Western Carolina, 12-2 in the league, will travel to second place UNCG (11-4) next weekend needing one win in the three-game series to claim the SoCon regular season title and home field advantage in the SoCon Softball Championship. Furman enters next weekend in third place at 7-7, Chattanooga is in fourth at 6-7, Mercer holds fifth place at 6-8 and Samford is in sixth place with a 6-9 conference record. Seventh place ETSU has been eliminated from contention for the four-team SoCon Softball Championship. The Paladins will host Mercer and can clinch a spot in the tournament with a series win over the Bears. The Mocs will entertain Samford in a three-game set.
Furman closes out the non-conference schedule on Wednesday with a 5 p.m. doubleheader versus Presbyterian at Pepsi Stadium before opening its series versus Mercer with an 11 a.m. doubleheader on Saturday, May 8. The regular season concludes with a single game versus the Bears on Sunday at 1 p.m.
