Starkville, Miss. – The Furman softball team opened play at the Bulldog Invitational on Friday by splitting a pair of games against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks and Mississippi State Bulldogs at Nusz Park.
The Paladins began the day by defeating Jacksonville State 6-4 before falling to host Mississippi State 10-1 in five innings.
Furman moves to 7-8 on the season while the Gamecocks dropped to 7-7 and the Bulldogs improved to 11-7.
Game 1 – Furman 6, Jacksonville State 4
Three different Paladins had one RBI, while
Sierra Tufts collected her fourth win of the season in the circle, as Furman opened tournament play with a 6-4 victory over Jacksonville State.
Tufts (4-3) threw 5.2 innings in the opener and picked up the win after giving up four runs on five hits, four walks and four strikeouts. Lexi Androlevich (2-3) took the loss surrendering five runs (two earned) on five hits, two walks and one strikeout in 3.2 innings of work.
Isabella Cear (2) received the save pitching 1.1 scoreless innings of relief and allowed one hit while striking out one.
Furman struck first with a run in the top of the first on
Natalie Morgan's RBI double just three batters into the game and later made it a 3-0 contest in the third when Morgan and
Riley Ludlam both scored on a Jacksonville State throwing error.
The Gamecocks scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the third on an RBI ground out by Sidney Wagnon.
The Paladins responded with two more runs in the top of the fourth, increasing their lead to 5-1, when
Alex Rose Molinar drove in
Lauralee Scott with her RBI infield single and later scored on a wild pitch.
Jacksonville State cut Furman's deficit down to 5-4 following a three-run bottom of the fifth that saw Lindsey Richardson, Addie Robinson and Savannah Sudduth all pick up one RBI.
The top of the seventh saw the Paladins plate a single run, making the score 6-4, when
Hana Hashioka's RBI single to left center field brought home
Becca Crawford.
Molinar led Furman offensively going 2-for-3 with one RBI and one run scored. Morgan and Hashioka both provided one hit and one RBI.
Richardson and Sudduth had one RBI apiece for the Gamecocks and tallied one RBI along with Wagnon and Robinson.
Game 2 – Furman 1, Mississippi State 10 (5)
Annie Willis did not allow a run over three innings and Chloe Malau'ulu had two hits and three RBI to lead Mississippi State to a run-rule win against the Paladins.
Willis (1-2) gave up one hit over her three innings of work and added six strikeouts to collect the win in the circle.
Lauralee Scott (2-3) suffered the loss after allowing 10 runs (eight earned) on eight hits and three walks over three innings of work.
The Bulldogs scored at least one run in every inning that they came to the plate highlighted by a six-run second inning. Five different Mississippi State batters collected an RBI in the second and another run came home following a Furman throwing error.
The Bulldogs also scored one run each in the first and third innings and tallied a two-run bottom of the fourth. Mia Davidson hit a solo home run in the bottom of the first and Riley Hull added an RBI sacrifice fly in the third. Malau'ulu was responsible for both runs in the fourth on her two-run homer to center field.
Emily Bartlett hit her second home run of the season in the top of the fourth to cut the Paladins' deficit to 8-1.
Bartlett had a team high two hits and one RBI for Furman while Ludlam, Molinar and
Ashlee Lykins contributed one hit.
Malau'ulu went 2-for-3 with three RBI and one run scored for Mississippi State and Hull registered two RBI. Davidson added a 2-for-3 performance with two runs scored.
Up Next
The Paladins continue play at the Bulldog Invitational on Saturday facing Alcorn State at 1:30 p.m. and Mississippi State at 6:30 p.m.
