Boone, N.C. – Taylor Schafer and Emilie Ching combined to drive in seven runs to lead Appalachian State to a 10-0 victory over Furman on the opening day of the Mountaineer Softball Classic Friday afternoon at Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium.
 
Ching cracked a three-run homer to centerfield to open the scoring in the bottom of the first and Kendal Bradshaw added a two-run blast to stake the Mountaineers to a 5-0 lead. Schafer belted a grand slam to right-center the following inning to extend the margin to 9-0 as Appalachian State (14-5) cruised to its 14^th win in 19 outings this season.
 
Camryn Fisher held Furman to just one hit while fanning six batters over five shutout innings to improve to 8-3 in the circle. The Paladins' Kristyn Embler (2-7) suffered the loss after giving up eight earned runs on eight hits over two innings in the circle. 
 
Schafer finished 2-for-3 at the plate with four RBI while Ching homered, walked and was hit by a pitch in three trips to the plate for the Mountaineers. Embler recorded the lone hit for the Paladins.
 
Junior Taylor Miller provided a bright spot for Furman by tossing two hitless innings of relief and striking out two batters.
 
The Paladins and Mountaineers square off again on Saturday at noon before Furman wraps up the brief two-day tournament with a 5 p.m. contest against the Queens Royals.
 
Both games on Saturday will be streamed live on ESPN+ with live statistics provided through StatBroadcast. Links for the live streams and live statistics are available on the softball schedule page at FurmanPaladins.com.
 
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