Greenville, S.C. – Freshman Kiley Perry belted a pair of homers to lead Furman to 4-3 victory in game two and a doubleheader split versus USC Upstate in non-conference softball action Wednesday at Pepsi Stadium. The Spartans won game one 8-2.
 
With Furman trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the second inning, Perry opened the frame with a towering homer to left field to put the Paladins on the board. Sylvia Burroughs followed with a base on balls and sprinted home on a two-out error by the Spartans to knot the game at 2-2.
 
USC Upstate regained the advantage in the top of the fifth when Denver Lauer reached on a leadoff single and scored on Casey Goguts' triple into the right-centerfield gap. Furman starter Sierra Tufts, however, induced a line out and a popup on the infield to end the inning and strand Goguts at third base.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, Riley Ludlam laced a double off the wall in right-center and Perry followed with a two-run blast to left-center to give the Paladins a 4-3 lead. Perry's second homer of the game marked her eighth of the season, the most in school history by a freshman.
 
After Tufts stranded a Spartan in scoring position in the sixth inning, Goguts reached on a one-out single and advanced to second base on an error in the top of the seventh. Goguts advanced to third base on a passed ball, but Tufts got Peyton Darnell to ground out to shortstop and retired Summer Johnson on a grounder to first to strand the tying run at third and end the game.
 
Tufts, who improved to 7-6 in the circle with her complete game, allowed two earned runs on six hits over seven innings while walking five and striking out two. Perry went 2-for-2 with two homers, a base on balls and three RBIs. Ashlee Lykins and Hannah Poole also collected two hits apiece for the Paladins.
 
Starter Maddie Drerup (9-4) suffered the loss for Upstate after allowing four runs, three earned, on nine hits over five innings. She issued four walks and fanned two. Goguts went 3-for-4 for the Spartans in game two and 6-for-8 with three extra-base hit in the doubleheader.
 
In the opening game of the day, Goguts went 3-for-4 with a double, homer, and three RBIs to power the Spartans to the 8-2 win. After clubbing a solo homer in the top of the first, she highlighted a three-run top of the third with a two-run double into the gap to help the Spartans build a 4-0 lead.
 
Poole's sacrifice fly and Lauren Woodall's RBI single in the bottom of the fourth helped trim the lead, but USC Upstate added single runs in each of the final four innings to secure the win.
 
Alyssa Kelly improved to 16-3 in the circle for the Spartans after holding Furman to a pair of runs on eight hits over 6.2 innings of work. She did not allow a walk while notching two strikeouts.
 
Paladin starter Lauralee Scott (1-7) was charged with four runs on five hits over three innings to absorb the loss. Lykins, Ludlam and Woodall each went 2-for-3 at the plate for the Paladins in game one.

Furman (11-19, 3-0 SoCon) travels to Johnson City, Tenn., to take on ETSU in a three-game Southern Conference series this weekend. Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled for 3 p.m. with Sunday's series finale set for a 1 p.m. first pitch. All three games will be streamed live on ESPN+.