Greenville, S.C. – McKenzie Newcomb and Jordyn Partain each tossed a complete-game shutout to lead Samford to a 5-0, 6-0 doubleheader sweep of Furman in Southern Conference softball action Saturday afternoon at Pepsi Stadium.
Game 1: Samford 5, Furman 0
In the opening game of the three-game weekend series, Newcomb scattered three hits and fanned 11 Furman batters to improve to 3-2 in the circle as the Bulldogs won their fourth straight league game.
The Bulldogs scored five unearned runs with the help of three Furman errors. A pair of first-inning miscues and a two-run blast from Katie Campbell staked Samford to a 3-0 lead after half an inning. Another error and an RBI base hit from Ansley Yantis upped the margin to 5-0 in the top of the fourth.
Yantis went 2-for-3 at the plate while Campbell drove in two runs to pace the Samford offense.
Ansley Chiang,
Chloe Fabio, and
Caitlin Goldwait registered the only hits for the Paladins.
Sierra Tufts (8-7) suffered the loss for Furman despite not allowing an earned run. She gave up five unearned runs on six hits over six innings of work.
Game 2: Samford 6, Furman 0
More first-inning fireworks and outstanding pitching helped Samford to a 6-0 victory in game two on Saturday.
After the first two batters of the game drew walks, Campbell put the Bulldogs on the board with a two-run double into the gap. A walk, bunt single, hit batter, wild pitch, passed ball, and sacrifice fly led to two more runs in the top of the third inning before Logan Champion capped the scoring in a game two with a two-run homer in the top half of the fifth.
Partain (7-13) tossed a four-hit shutout and struck out four batters without allowing a walk to pick up the win. Furman starter
Taylor Miller (1-4) was tagged with the loss after surrendering two runs on two hits in two innings of work.
Grier Bruce, Campbell, and Yantis each collected a pair of hits for the Bulldogs. Goldwait went 2-for-3 at the plate to pace the Paladins.
The three-game series between Furman (18-23, 3-8 SoCon) and Samford (15-24, 7-4 SoCon) concludes with a 1 p.m. contest on Sunday. Admission at Pepsi Stadium is free and the game will also be streamed live on ESPN+.
