Wilmington, N.C. – UNC Wilmington rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to edge Furman, 3-2, in the final game of the season-opening UNCW Tournament at Boseman Field in Wilmington, N.C., on Sunday afternoon.
 
Senior Ainsley Yoshizumi put the Paladins in front, 2-0, in the top of the second with an inside-the-park homer down the left field line following Hannah Poole's double, but UNCW scratched across single runs in the second, fourth, and sixth innings to snap the Paladins season-opening four-game winning streak.
 
A groundout got the Seahawks on the board in the second inning and the home team evened the contest by scoring on a double steal and errant throw in the bottom of the fourth. With the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth, UNCW's Skylar Stockton reached on a leadoff double, stole third base and scored on Morgan Britt's one-out, RBI single.
 
Ashlee Lykins legged out a two-out single in the top of the seventh to put the tying run on base, but the Seahawks' Carrigan Ewers got Ansley Chiang to bounce out to third to end the game.
 
Ewers (1-0) tossed a scoreless 1.2 innings of relief to earn the win for UNCW while Furman starter Emme Buzhardt (0-1) took the loss. Buzhardt allowed two earned runs on five hits in six innings of work. She struck out six batters and issued one walk.
 
Lykins, Poole, Kiley Perry, and Yoshizumi each collected two hits for the Paladins. Britt registered two hits for the Seahawks (3-2).
 
The Paladins (4-1) open their 2024 home schedule next weekend when they host IUPUI, Towson, Georgetown, and Lipscomb in the Furman Invitational at Pepsi Stadium.