COLUMBIA, S.C. - Sophomore Alex Bimonte collected three hits, including the eventual game-winning RBI single in the top of the ninth, and Lana Mackey fanned 12 batters as Furman edged Charleston Southern 5-4 in the Paladins' 2010 softball season opener at the Palmetto State Showdown on Friday afternoon at Beckham Field.
The Paladins' scheduled 7 p.m. contest versus Coastal Carolina was cancelled due to accumulating snow in the Columbia area. Furman will face Winthrop at 2 p.m. on Saturday before battling host South Carolina at 4 p.m.
After Stephanie Field denied the Buccaneers a chance to win the game with a diving catch in centerfield in the bottom of the eighth inning, Bimonte lined a one-out single back up the middle to plate Alyssa Williams to give Furman a 5-4 lead in the top half of the ninth.
Courtney Konyk was placed on second base to begin the bottom of the frame according to the international tiebreaker rule, but she was called out after umpires discovered she had illegally reentered the game for the second time. Mackey got the next two batters to fly out to left field to cap the victory.
Mackey earned the win for Furman allowing just one earned run on four hits while fanning 12 batters in eight innings. Bimonte registered three hits while Field, Homesley and Hughey each tallied a pair of hits.
Reliever Kimberly Hobbs suffered the loss for CSU surrendering five runs on 10 hits in seven innings of work. Steele went 2-for-4 with and RBI to pace the Bucs offense.
Charleston Southern opened the scoring with a pair of runs off of Paladin starter Kayla Suskauer in the bottom of the second. Pinch runner Mandee Camargo scored on a single to center off of the bat of Trea Steele to give the Bucs a 1-0 lead. After Konyk followed with a base on balls, Melissa Adams greeted Mackey to the circle with a RBI single through the left side. Mackey pitched out of trouble to hold the Bucs to a 2-0 lead.
Furman answered with three runs of its own in the top of the third. Bimonte and Field delivered one-out singles before Jessie Homesley put the Paladins on the board with an RBI single to score Bimonte. After Katie Michaels reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases, Morgan Hughey lined a two-run single up the middle to give Furman a 3-2 lead.
Field doubled to open the fifth and scored on Homesley's one-out double to left-center to up the margin to 4-2. The Bucs forced extra innings by using two hits and a Paladin error to plate two runs in the bottom of the seventh.