Greenville, S.C. – Furman's
Mackense Greico went 3-for-3 and drove in three runs to lead the Paladins to a game one victory and doubleheader split versus Mercer in Southern Conference softball action Saturday afternoon at Pepsi Stadium. The Bears evened the series with an 8-0 win on game two.
The Paladins (19-27, 8-8 SoCon) and Bears (22-21, 7-9 SoCon) play the series and regular season finale on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Pepsi Stadium with the winner clinching a berth in next week's four-team SoCon Softball Championship.
Game 1: Furman 4, Mercer 2
Furman jumped out to a 3-0 lead in game one and held on to down the Bears, 4-2, behind strong pitching from
Sierra Tufts and
Bailey Tanner.
The Paladins took the lead on an RBI single by Greico in the first and upped the advantage to 3-0 on a two-run blast to right-center off of the bat first baseman in the bottom of the fifth inning. Bree Comer's RBI double put the Bears on the board in the top of the sixth and forced the Paladins to go to the bullpen. Tanner entered the game and allowed a walk and a sacrifice fly, but she retired the next batter to end the inning with Furman leading 3-2.
In the bottom of the sixth,
Chrissy Fleming reached base on a bunt single, and scored on her sister
Amanda Fleming's two-out double into the left field corner to increase the Furman lead to 4-2. Tanner retired the Bears in the top of the seventh to pick up her fourth save of the season.
Tufts (9-12) earned the victory after holding Mercer to just two runs on six hits over five and one-third innings of work. She walked three batters and struck out one. Tanner allowed just the one walk over one and two-thirds innings in the circle.
Starter Ashlyn Donner (9-6) took the loss for Mercer after allowing four runs on eight hits over six innings. She walked three batters and fanned six.
Greico finished 3-for-3 with a double, homer and three RBI, while Fleming went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
Game 2: Mercer 8, Furman 0 (5 Inn.)
In game two, Mercer exploded for eight runs on 12 hits over five innings and Madi Joice tossed a one-hit shutout to help her team to an 8-0 victory.
After surrendering a leadoff single in the bottom of the first, Joice held Furman to just a walk the rest of the way to improve to 6-6 on the season. She struck out three Paladins and issued just the one walk through five innings of work to earn the win.
The Bears took the lead on Allie Jones' solo homer in the first and added three more runs in the top of the third, highlighted by Comer's two-run single. Mercer added four more runs on five hits in the fourth to put the game away.
Micayla Rood went 3-for-4 with two runs and Jones finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs to pace the Bears' offense.
Tufts suffered the loss for Furman after allowing four runs on four hits in two and two-thirds innings of work.
