Clemson, S.C. – Junior Lauralee Scott tossed a complete game to lead Furman to a 4-3 victory over No. 17 Clemson in non-conference softball action Tuesday night at McWhorter Stadium in Clemson, S.C.
 
The victory, which improved the Paladins to 18-18 on the season, marked Furman's first versus the Tigers and upped its record to 2-1 against the ACC. Furman topped Louisville 13-8 in Conway, S.C., on February 24.
 
Scott (7-2) held the Tigers to three runs on six hits over seven innings. The Greenwood, S.C., native issued six walks, fanned two batters, and stranded 10 Clemson runners on base en route to her seventh win of the season.
 
With the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth, Clemson's Grace Hiller worked a leadoff walk and pinch runner Julia Bomhardt moved to third base when Aby Vierira singled through the right side. Scott, however, induced three straight grounders and the Paladins cut down two runners at the plate to keep Clemson (24-11) off the board.
 
Furman regained the lead in the top of the seventh as pinch hitter Ainsley Yoshizumi and Ashlee Lykins reached with a single and walk, respectively, before moving into scoring position on a ground out. With two outs, Perry hit a sharp grounder towards first base that skipped off Valerie Cagle's glove and into right field allowing two runs to score.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, McKenzie Clark drew a leadoff walk and Cagle followed with a single through the left side on a 3-2 pitch. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third. Allia Logoleo lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in a run and trim the margin to 4-3, but Scott got Lindsey Garcia to ground back to the circle for the second out. Following a base on balls by Grace Hiller, Scott got Aby Vieira to bounce the first pitch she saw back to the circle and the righthander fired a strike to first base to end the game.
 
Lykins and Burroughs each went 1-for-3 with a single and a walk while Chloe Fabio added an RBI squeeze bunt and a stolen base. With her first inning single, Lykins has reached base safely in 32 of the last 33 games.
 
Furman opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the top of the second inning. Ansley Chiang and Kaitlyn Laudick notched back-to-back singles to open the frame and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Chiang beat a throw to the plate on Fabio's squeeze bunt to give the Paladins the lead before Laudick raced home on a wild pitch to give Furman a 2-0 advantage.
 
A single, walk, and hit batter loaded the bases for the Tigers in the bottom of the frame. Arielle Oda worked a bases loaded walk to get the Tigers on the board, but Scott got Alex Brown to ground out to the circle to end the threat.
 
After Furman started the third inning with a pair of singles from Kiley Perry and Burroughs but failed to score, Clemson's Clark and Logoleo singled ahead of Lindsey Garcia's game-tying sacrifice fly to right field. Scott got Hiller to fly out to leave the game knotted at 2-2 after three innings.
 
Millie Thompson (4-4) took the loss for Clemson, despite allowing just two unearned runs on a hit in five innings of relief. Logoleo went 2-for-2 at the plate with a pair of singles and a walk to lead the Clemson offense.
 
Furman returns to league play this weekend when it travels to Macon, Ga., to take on the Mercer Bears. Saturday's doubleheader is slated for 2 p.m. with the series finale on Sunday scheduled for a 1 p.m. first pitch.