Jacksonville, Fla. – Junior
Sierra Tufts tossed a complete game and freshman
Kiley Perry blasted her first collegiate home run to help Furman to a 3-2 victory over the Georgetown Hoyas in the season opener for both schools Friday morning at the River City Leadoff in Jacksonville, Fla.
The Paladins were scheduled to play the host Jacksonville Dolphins at 3 p.m. but the preceding game was delayed by weather. Updates on tonight's schedule will be provided on Twitter @FurmanSoftball as soon as they are available.
Tied 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Perry, a native of Alpharetta, Ga., hammered a solo shot to leadoff the frame and put the Paladins in front. After
Hana Hashioka singled and moved to second on
Ainsley Yoshizumi's one-out walk,
Chloe Fabio singled to left field to double the Paladins' lead.
Georgetown got a leadoff single and a fielder's choice to put two runners on in the top of the seventh. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runners into scoring position, Tufts got the Hoyas' Cameron Kondo to bounce to third base. Fabio and catcher
Riley Ludlam retired Gabby Nemarich in a run down for the second out of the inning. Morgan Zamora followed with an RBI single to halve the lead, but Tufts retired Mae Forshey on a line drive to shortstop
Alex Rose Molinar to end the game.
Tufts (1-0) scattered three hits and issued just two walks in seven innings to pick up the victory. She fanned six Georgetown batters. Perry finished 2-for-3 at the plate while Hashioka reached base twice and stole a base for the Paladins.
Zamora went 2-for-4 with an RBI to lead the Hoya offense. Julia Parker (0-1) suffered the loss after surrendering three runs on five hits in four innings of work.
Furman is scheduled to return to action on Saturday when it faces Georgetown at 2:30 p.m. and North Florida at 5 p.m. at the UNF Softball Complex in Jacksonville. Links for Saturday live video streams are also posted on the schedule page at FurmanPaladins.com. Log onto Twitter and follow @FurmanSoftball for updates and schedule changes.
