Greensboro, N.C. – UNCG's Jordan Gontram belted her second grand slam of the weekend to help the Spartans down Furman, 5-1, in the rubber game of a three-game Southern Conference softball series Sunday afternoon in Greensboro, N.C.
 
With the victory, UNCG maintained its lead in the SoCon by upping its record to 35-14 overall and 14-1 in league play. Furman dropped to 19-29 overall and maintained its hold of third place in the standings at 7-8 in the SoCon.
 
The Paladins jumped out to an early lead when junior Riley Ludlam blasted a solo homer to left field in the first inning. Furman loaded the bases following Ludlam's clout but were unable to add to the advantage.
 
Starter Sierra Tufts (9-14) shut out the Spartans for the first four innings before UNCG broke through in the bottom of the fifth. Blayke Batten struck out swinging to start the frame, but the pitch skipped off Ludlum's glove allowing her to reach first base safely. Following a sacrifice bunt and fly out, a single and base on balls loaded the bases for Gontram, who launched a pitch over the left-center field fence to give UNCG a 4-1 lead.
 
An error in the bottom of the sixth allowed the Spartans to add an insurance run on a sacrifice fly by Jessie Shipley, and Alex Rodriguez hurled two scoreless innings of relief to secure the victory and nail down her first save of the season. Morgan Scott (21-10) earned the win after striking out seven Paladins and allowing only one run on four hits over five innings.
 
Tufts, despite not allowing an earned run, suffered the loss for Furman. She gave up four unearned runs on four hits over five innings. The sophomore walked three batters and notched two strikeouts.
 
Ludlam went 2-for-3 with a double and her sixth homer of the season to lead the Paladin offense.
 
Furman will celebrate its seniors next weekend when the Paladins host ETSU in a three-game series at Pepsi Stadium. Saturday's doubleheader is set for 11 a.m. with Sunday's regular season finale slated for 1p.m.