Greenville, S.C. – Sophomore
Caitlin Goldwait drove in four runs and freshman
Sylvia Burroughs belted a pair of home runs to propel Furman to a 5-2, 6-5 doubleheader sweep of the Queens Royals in non-conference softball action Wednesday at Pepsi Stadium.
In game one, Queens jumped in front on Jordyn Thompson's RBI triple in the top of the third before Furman answered with a three-spot in the bottom of the frame.
Chrissy Fleming started the rally with a double to left-center and scored two batters later on Goldwait's sacrifice fly down the left field line.
Ashlee Lykins reached base on an error and raced around from first base when
Riley Ludlam's single to center skipped past the Royals' centerfielder.
Kiley Perry followed with a double to the base of the wall in left to plate Ludlam an give the Paladins a 3-1 lead.
Furman loaded the bases the following inning with three singles and Goldwait drove in
Lauralee Scott with a grounder to second base. In the bottom of the fifth, Perry launched a solo blast to right-center, her SoCon-leading 12
th homer of the season, to up the margin to 5-1.
Sophomore
Emme Buzhardt picked up the victory to improve to 7-6 in the circle. The Saluda, S.C., product allowed just one run on four hits over five innings of work while fanning four batters without issuing a walk. It marked the eighth time in her last 10 starts that Furman picked up a victory.
Perry finished 2-for-3 with a double, homer, and two RBIs. Goldwait recorded two RBIs and Burroughs reached safely in two of her three at bats with a single and a base on balls.
Abby Craver suffered the loss for Queens to fall to 5-12 on the year. The righthander allowed five runs, three earned, on eight hits in five innings of work.
Thompson and Kayla Smith each registered two hits for the Royals in game one.
For the second straight game, Furman rebounded from an early 1-0 deficit by scoring three runs in the bottom of the second inning in game two on its way to a 6-5 win.
Burroughs quickly erased the 1-0 deficit by driving a 3-1 pitch out of the park to leadoff the second inning.
Hana Suniga worked a two-out walk and
Ainsley Yoshizumi followed with a single to keep the rally going before Goldwait lined a two-run single to center field to give the Paladins a 3-1 advantage.
Furman added three key insurance runs the following inning. Perry started the frame with a single and Burroughs followed with her second homer in as many innings, a two-run blast off the scoreboard in left-center, to up the Paladin lead to 5-1. Suniga reached on a two-out double and Yoshizumi delivered an RBI single to right-center to score the senior from second base and extend the margin to 6-1.
Starter
Sierra Tufts cruised through the first six innings allowing just two runs. Queens, however, mounted a seventh-inning rally against Furman reliever
Isabella Cear. A single and an error put the first two runners of the inning on base before a fielder's choice and an RBI ground out had the Paladins an out away from victory. Kasidi Staley and Ashlyn Mickler kept the Royals' rally alive though with back-to-back RBI singles before Tufts reentered the game and fanned Averi Munoz to strand the potential tying run at second base.
Tufts improved to 10-9 in the circle after allowing an earned run on five hits over 6.1 innings of work. She walked one Queens batter and notched six strikeouts.
Burroughs went 2-for-3 with two homers and three RBIs while Goldwait finished 1-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and Yoshizumi collected two hits.
Queens (18-19) starter Haley Nelson (0-1) took the loss for the Royals. She was charged with three runs on three hits over 1.2 innings of work. Thompson, Mickler and Kaylee DeJesus each totaled two hits for the Royals.
The Paladins (19-24, 7-4 SoCon) look to strengthen their hold on first place in the Southern Conference standings when they travel to Birmingham, Ala., to face Samford (18-26, 7-5 SoCon) in a key three-game set this weekend. First pitch of Saturday's doubleheader is set for 2 p.m. ET with Sunday's series finale also slated for a 2 p.m. first pitch.
