Greenville, S.C. – Senior Sierra Tufts tossed a one-hit shutout to power Furman to a 1-0 victory over Wofford in the opening game of a three-game Southern Conference series and first-ever meeting between the schools on the softball diamond Friday at Pepsi Stadium.
 
The Chula Vista, Calif., native fanned a career-best 10 batters and faced just one batter of the minimum to improve her record to 9-8 in the circle. After allowing a leadoff single in the top of the third inning, Tufts retired the final 15 batters she faced and did not allow a walk over seven innings. The one-hitter marked her third of her career and her seventh career complete-game shutout.
 
The Paladins (20-25, 5-8 SoCon) scratched across the lone run of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning. Kiley Perry lined a leadoff single through the right side for Furman's first hit of the game and moved to second base on Hannah Poole's sacrifice bunt. Wofford's Abby Greenwood fanned Kaitlyn Laudick for the second out of the inning, but Alex Rose Molinar followed by dumping a soft liner down the right field line to plate Perry.
 
In the top of the sixth, Tufts got some help from her defense as centerfielder Ashlee Lykins made a diving grab to erase Olivia Lenzen to start the frame. The righthander got the next two batters on a ground out and line out before setting the Terriers (16-19, 6-7 SoCon) down in order in the seventh inning to secure the victory.
 
 Greenwood (6-12) suffered the loss for Wofford despite giving up just one run on three hits over six innings. She retired 12 of the first 13 batters she faced before Perry's single to open the bottom of the fifth.
 
The Paladins and Terriers are set to play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m., which will be streamed live on ESPN+. Saturday is Greenville Little League Day at Pepsi Stadium. Admission is free and all little leaguers will have the chance to run the bases and get autographs from the Paladins following game two.