Wilmington, N.C. – The Furman softball team ran its season-opening winning streak to four games with a 5-2 victory over Northern Kentucky and 3-1 win over UNC Wilmington Saturday night in the UNCW Tournament at Boseman Field in Wilmington, N.C.
Furman 5, Northern Kentucky 2
In the first of two games on Saturday, Furman struck for three runs in the bottom of the first inning and added two more in the third en route to a 5-2 victory over defending Horizon League champion Northern Kentucky.
Hannah Poole ripped a two-out, two-run double down the left field line in the bottom of the first inning to drive in
Ansley Chiang and
Sylvia Burroughs with the first runs of the game and
Kaitlyn Laudick followed with a line drive down the right field line to plate Poole and up the Paladin lead to 3-0.
After NKU posted two runs against Furman freshman starter
Taylor Miller in the second inning, the Paladins' bats went back to work in the bottom of the third. Back-to-back walks issued to
Kiley Perry and Poole set the table before Laudick delivered and RBI single and
Alex Rose Molinar drove in a run on a sacrifice bunt.
The Paladin pitching did the rest of the work as reliever
Lauralee Scott (2-0) earned her second win of the weekend by scattering four hits over 3.1 innings of shutout work out of the bullpen. Fellow junior
Emme Buzhardt came on to get the final two outs in the seventh and earn her third save in as many games.
Poole finished 1-for-2 with a double, two walks, two RBI, and two runs. Laudick notched a pair of hits and drove in two runs.
Northern Kentucky's Lauryn Hicks (0-3) was tagged with the loss after allowing five runs on five hits in 3.1 innings. She issued six walks. Maddie Lacer went 2-for-2 with a double and two walks to pace the NKU offense.
Furman 3, UNCW 1
Senior
Sierra Tufts was the star of the nightcap as the righthander hurled a complete game to power Furman to a 3-1 win over the host Seahawks.
Tufts surrendered a run on two hits in the first inning, but followed with six innings of two-hit, shutout work to up her record to 2-0. She walked three and struck out four on the night.
Furman evened the game in the top of the third when three singles loaded the bases for Burroughs, who lined a base hit to the opposite field to score
Chrissy Fleming from third base. The game remained deadlocked until the top of the sixth when Burroughs led off the frame with a single and
Kiley Perry followed with a hit. The runners moved up on a wild pitch before Poole delivered a sacrifice fly to drive in pinch runner
Ansley Chiang with the go-ahead run. Perry doubled the lead by racing home on a fielder's choice.
Tufts plunked a batter with one out in the bottom of the sixth but rebounded to retire the final five batters she faced to close out the victory for Furman.
Burroughs finished 2-for-4 with an RBI to lead the Paladin offense that totaled seven hits versus the Seahawks (2-1).
UNCW's Kara Hammock allowed three runs on seven hits over 5.1 innings in the circle to absorb the loss.
Furman and UNCW will meet in the tournament finale on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. The game will be streamed live on FloSports for a subscription fee and live statistics will be available at FurmanPaladins.com.
