Greenville, S.C. – Furman softball dropped a 6-1 decision to Lipscomb and 8-1 verdict against Harvard on the opening day of Georgia Southern's Bash in the Boro on Friday in Statesboro, Ga.
Lipscomb 6, Furman 1
Lipscomb plated five runs in the top of the fifth inning to down Furman, 6-1, in the opening game of the Bash in the Boro on Friday morning.
The Bisons feasted on seven walks and three Furman errors to score their six runs while Lanie Barefoot (1-1) earned the victory in the circle. Barefoot held the Paladins to a run on five hits in a complete-game effort. She fanned six batters without issuing a walk.
Lipscomb struck first in the top of the third inning when Furman starter
Lily O'Bryan allowed three consecutive two-out walks to force in the first run of the game. The Bisons maintained the 1-0 lead until the top of the fifth. Back-to-back singles and a Paladin error allowed two runs to score to stretch the Lipscomb lead to 3-0. After another error, consecutive walks forced in a run and Macey Ogle followed with a two-run base hit to increase the lead to 6-0.
Furman got on the board in the bottom of the sixth when
Sylvia Burroughs reached base on a double and
Madison Petty collected her third RBI of the season with a double into the gap.
O'Bryan took the loss for the Paladins to fall to 0-2 on the year. She allowed one run on a hit and four walks in 2.2 innings of work. Burroughs went 3-for-3 at the plate and Petty added a pair of hits.
Alyssa Hastings finished 2-for-3 with a double for the Bisons.
Harvard 8, Furman 1
Harvard scored in each of the first four innings, including a four-run outburst in the fourth inning, en route to an 8-1 victory over the Paladins in game two on Friday.
A leadoff walk, followed by a double by Salazar, put Harvard in front in the bottom of the first. Furman evened the contest on
Lauren Woodall's RBI single in the top of the second, but the Crimson answered in the bottom of the frame when Finley Payne tripled and scored on Lael Ayala's groundout.
After Harvard plated another run with the help of a Furman error in the third inning, the Crimson exploded for four runs in the fourth. Three consecutive singles loaded the bases to start the rally for Harvard before Salazar laced a two-run single to center field to chase Paladin starter
Taylor Miller. Reliever
Emme Buzhardt was greeted by three more singles, including a run-scoring base hit by Priyanka Kaul, to up the margin to 7-1.
Starter Nicolette Hunter earned the victory for the Crimson in their season opener. She held Furman to a run on six hits over 4.2 innings and recorded three strikeouts.
Four Harvard hitters collected two hits apiece while Salazar drove in three runs. Sophie Sun hammered a solo homer and scored three runs for the Crimson.
Miller (0-1), making her season debut, suffered the loss for Furman after allowing six runs on eight hits in three-plus innings in the circle. Buzhardt allowed two runs in three innings of work but struck out five of the 13 batters she faced without surrendering a base on balls.
Petty went 2-for-3 for the Paladins. Burroughs and Woodall each totaled a single and a base on balls.
Furman (1-5) returns to action with a 10 a.m. first pitch on Saturday morning versus Lipscomb before taking on Harvard at 5:30 p.m. Fans can follow live stats for all Paladin games this weekend via StatBroadcast at FurmanPaladins.com.
