Clinton, S.C. – Furman exploded for a six-run inning and sophomore Emme Buzhardt struck out a career-high eight batters as Furman downed Presbyterian, 10-3, in game one and earned a doubleheader split versus the Blue Hose on Tuesday at the PC Softball Complex. PC rebounds to edge Furman, 6-5, in the nightcap.
 
Buzhardt (1-4) picked up her first win of the season by holding the Blue Hose to two earned runs on five hits over seven innings while fanning eight PC hitters. She walked just two batters in the complete-game effort.

With the game knotted 1-1 in the top of the third, Ashlee Lykins reached on an error to start the frame and Caitlin Goldwait followed with a single to center field. Following a popout, freshman Kiley Perry singled to left to drive in the go-ahead run and Hana Hashioka was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded after a walk to Sylvia Burroughs to push across another run. The Paladins blew open the game with two outs in the inning when Chloe Fabio doubled down the third base line to drive in two and Lykins reached on an infield single to up the lead to 7-1.
 
Presbyterian scratched across a run in the bottom of the fifth, but Furman answered with RBI singles from Burroughs, Alex Rose Molinar, and Hana Suniga in the top of the sixth to extend the margin to 10-2.
 
Eight different Paladins registered hits, including two apiece from Lykins, Perry, and Ainsley Yoshizumi, as Furman totaled 11 safeties in game one. Yoshizumi picked up her third triple of the season.
 
Jenna Greene (7-3) suffered the defeat for Presbyterian after allowing seven runs on five hits in 2.2 innings. Six of the seven runs she allowed were unearned due to four Blue Hose errors. Jillian Hewes notched a home run for the Blue Hose.
 
In game two, Kendall Owens plated Jenna Borkey with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth to break a 5-5 tie and help Presbyterian (15-5) claim a 6-5 victory.
 
Furman took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on Suniga's second homer of the campaign, but Presbyterian answered with two runs in the bottom of the second and three more in the third inning. A wild pitch and two-out, infield single allowed PC to tie the game in the second before Morgan Hess gave the Blue Hose the lead with a three-run blast an inning later.
 
Yoshizumi drove in Fabio in the fourth to cut the deficit to 5-3 and Molinar laced a two-run single back up the middle in the fifth to pull the Paladins even. Hess, however, pitched the Blue Hose out of a bases loaded jam in the fifth and stranded seven Paladin runners over the final three innings to setup Owens' game-winning sacrifice fly.
 
Reliever Sierra Tufts (3-6) took the loss for Furman despite allowing just one run on three hits over three innings. Hess improved to 5-1 in the circle for Presbyterian after allowing five runs on eight hits. She walked seven batters and struck out nine while going 2-for-3 with three RBIs at the plate.
 
Molinar and Lykins each collected a pair of hits for Furman.

The Paladins (5-16) return to Pepsi Stadium to host Charleston Southern in a 1 p.m. twinbill on Saturday, March 11.