Greensboro, N.C. – Freshman McKenzie Newcomb limited Furman to an unearned run over seven innings and the Bulldogs took advantage of four errors to down the Paladins, 6-1, in an elimination game Friday afternoon in the Southern Conference Softball Championship at UNCG Softball Stadium in Greensboro, N.C.
Newcomb fanned five batters and walked just one to improve to 21-8 in the circle as the Bulldogs stayed alive in tournament play. She surrendered five total hits and one run. Samford (34-18) advances to face UNCG in a 3 p.m. elimination game, while Furman finishes its season with a 22-33 record.
The Bulldogs set the table with a couple of singles in the bottom of the third inning and broke a scoreless tie as Mary Katherine Tedder reached base on an error that allowed pinch runner Lindsey Nelson to score. Cleanup hitter Timberlyn Shurbutt followed with a two-run double into the gap to up the Samford lead to 3-0.
Furman answered with a single run in the top of the fourth inning.
Emily Bartlett reached second base on a dropped fly ball at the warning track in left field and sprinted home on
Caitlin Goldwait's RBI single up the middle.
After Samford added an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth, the Bulldogs plated two more on a sixth-inning miscue. Gwynnie Hornibrook reached base on an error before Ansley Yantis laced an RBI triple into the right field corner. Kolby Holcombe followed with a run-scoring groundout to up the margin to 6-1.
In the top of the seventh inning, Furman loaded the bases as
Natalie Morgan was hit by a pitch and
Chloe Fabio and
Chrissy Fleming singled against Newcomb, but the Samford hurler induced a lineout by
Ashlee Lykins and struck out
Alex Rose Molinar to end the game.
Starter
Sierra Tufts suffered the loss for Furman after allowing three unearned runs on four hits over three innings. The sophomore struck out two batters and did not issue a walk. Reliever
Emme Buzhardt was tagged with three unearned runs despite allowing just one hit over three innings of work.
Yantis led Samford with two hits, while Fleming registered two hits for the Paladins.