Birmingham, Ala. – Samford scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to erase a 5-1 game-two deficit to top Furman, 6-5, and complete a doubleheader sweep of the Paladins Friday afternoon at Samford Softball Stadium. The Bulldogs claimed a 5-1 decision in the series opener.
With Saturday's sweep, Samford improved to 30-17 overall and 11-3 in Southern Conference play. Furman dropped to 13-31 overall and 3-11 in conference play.
Game 1: Samford 5, Furman 1
Samford plated three runs in the first inning and cruised to a 5-1 victory in Friday afternoon's series opener.
After McKayla Cothran drew a one-out walk in the first, Olivia Shaw lined a run-scoring double to the center field fence and Katie Campbell followed with a two-run homer to right-center field to stake the Bulldogs to a 3-0 lead against Paladin starter
Angelina Ricciardi. With two outs and nobody on base, Samford mounted rallies in the fourth and fifth innings to add to the lead. Sarah Squillace delivered an RBI single in the fourth before Grier Bruce followed a double by Shaw ad two-out single by Campbell to drive in the fifth run with a single in the bottom of the fifth.
Furman totaled eight hits and got on the board on a solo home run to left field off the bat of
Sylvia Burroughs in the top of the sixth inning, but the Paladins stranded seven runners on base.
Jordyn Partain tossed a complete game in the circle for Samford to improve her record to 13-10 on the season. She limited the Paladins to one run on eight hits while fanning two batters.
Shaw and Campbell combined for four hits, including three extra base hits, and batted in three runs to power Samford to the victory.
Ricciardi (5-8) took the loss for Furman after allowing five runs in 5.1 innings of work. The sophomore issued two walks and struck out three Bulldogs.
Freshman
Kate Stoltzfus led the Furman offense with a 3-for-3 performance while second baseman
Ansley Chiang notched two hits in the series opener.
Game 2: Samford 6, Furman 5
Furman put itself in position to snap a long losing streak by building a 5-1 lead in the nightcap, but Samford rallied for five runs in the bottom of the seventh to capture a 6-5 win.
Logan Champion opened the seventh with a solo home run to trim the margin to 5-2 and Squillace followed a strikeout by reaching base on an error. Sydnie Ferrant singled up the middle and Addison Smith worked a walk to load the bases with one out. After Cothran plated Squillace on a sacrifice fly to center, Shaw hit a fly ball to the warning track in right field for what appeared to be the final out of the game, but the ball popped out of Burroughs' glove allowing two runs to score. Campbell followed with a bouncer up the middle that went off Chiang's glove and Shaw raced around from second base with the walk-off run.
The final four runs in the five-run frame were unearned. Senior
Emme Buzhardt (5-10) suffered the loss after giving up just two earned runs on six hits in 6.2 innings. She struck out five batters and walked only one.
Furman grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the second when Stoltzfus reached base safely with two outs and the bases loaded when Squillace's throw to first was ruled to have pulled Shaw off the bag.
Kiley Perry and
Madison Petty raced home to open the scoring.
Leading 2-1 in the top of the seventh, the Paladins added three insurance runs when Burroughs blasted a three-run homer to left field for her fifth roundtripper of the season and second of the twinbill.
Samford's rally in the bottom of the frame made a winner of reliever Olivia Treece. She was charged with three runs on five hits in 4.2 innings of work.
Perry went 3-for-4 with a double for the Paladins in game two while sophomore
Grayson Snead collected two hits.
The series concludes with a 2 p.m. EDT contest on Saturday and the game will be streamed on ESPN+. Links for the live stream and live statistics can be accessed at FurmanPaladins.com.
