Baseball 3/7/2002 5:25:00 PM Southern Conference Furman Routs William & Mary Greenville, S.C.--Furman?s Drew Latora and Nick Wajda both drove infour runs each as Furman pounded William and Mary 15-5 in baseball actionThursday afternoon at Furman Baseball Stadium. With the win, the Paladins improve to 6-8 on the season, while theTribe fall to 9-7. Furman began the scoring in the first when Derek Norman tripled tocenter field to plate Nick Wajda. In the second, the Paladins continued toscore as Wadja doubled to center field to drive in Clint Hill, BrandonBarrett, and Cole Hubka, chasing Tribe starter Chris Shaver (1-1) from themound. Furman added to its lead in the fifth, scoring five runs off fivehits. Ryan Presnell led-off the inning with a single up the middle andlater scored on a Danny Rueckel double. Cole Hubka followed with a singleto plate Rueckel. Nick Wajda continued the offensive assult by reaching onan error, driving in Brandon Barrett and Hubka. Derek Norman concluded thescoring in the inning with a single to left field to give the Paladins a10-0 lead. William and Mary got on the board in the fourth when John Lentzgrounded out to plate Tim Jones and later added a run in the fifth on aMarshall Hubbard double to center field. Furman, however, continued to score in the sixth inning as DerekNorman walked in a run and Drew Latora singled to left field, scoring Wajdaand Richie Dean to extend their lead to 14-2. The Paladins capped thescoring with a Dominic Frankey home run in the bottom of the eighth inning. William and Mary tried to rally in the ninth, scoring three runs inthe frame before Furman closer Rob Purvis shut down the Tribe. For Furman, Nick Wajda went 1-for-4 with four RBI and four runsscored. Drew Latora went 2-for-3 with four runs scored, and Derek Normanhad two triples and three RBI as well to help led the Paladins. Danny Rueckel (2-2) pitched three innings, allowing only three hitsand no runs to pick up the win. William and Mary travels back to Williamsburg to face Coastal Carolinaon Saturday in a 1:00 p.m. game. Furman opens their conference season onSaturday against Appalachian State in a double header. The first pitch isslated for 2:00 p.m.