Kennesaw, Ga. – Furman plated four runs in the first three innings en route to a 5-3 victory in game one and a doubleheader split with Kennesaw State on Wednesday afternoon at Bailey Park in Kennesaw, Ga. The Owls claimed a 3-1 victory in the nightcap.
Alex Sappington (2-1) picked up the victory for the Paladins in game one, tossing three and 2/3 innings of relief, while senior Lauren Collier fanned Courtney Sutter to escape a bases loaded jam in the seventh inning and earn a save.
Furman (12-11) took the lead in the top half of the first as Nikki Legg reached on a leadoff single and scored when Sieara Bishop’s line drive went through the legs of the Kennesaw State first baseman. Hannah Pace doubled the lead with a one-out, RBI single to score Collier in the top of the second before Bishop laced a base hit to left field with two outs to plate the Paladins’ third run.
Ambree Muller walked to open the third, moved to second on a single by Collier and advanced to third on a double steal. With one out, Pace lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in her second run of the game and give the Paladins a 4-0 advantage.
The Owls (12-11) cut the lead in half with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Natalie Rhodes lined a triple to right-center to get KSU on the board and cut the lead to 4-2 by scoring on Sara Sikes sacrifice fly.
After Natalie Clemmons two-out, RBI single off of the shortstop’s glove upped the Furman lead to 5-3 in the top of the seventh, Sappington ran into trouble in the bottom of the frame. With a runner on first base and two out, Rhodes singled and Sikes followed with an RBI single to chase Sappington. Collier walked the first batter she faced to load the bases, but fanned Sutter to secure the win for Furman.
Sappington allowed just one run on five hits in her three and 2/3 innings to earn the win. She walked one batter and notched four strikeouts.
Legg, Bishop, Elise Smith and Collier each registered two hits apiece to pace the Paladins 10-hit attack.
Paige Mathews (0-4), who allowed three runs on one and 2/3 innings, took the loss for the Owls.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Sutter hammered a solo homer to right field in the second inning and belted a two-run shot to center field in the fourth to propel Kennesaw State to a 3-1 win.
Furman threatened to grab the lead in the top half of the second with runners on second and third with one out, but KSU’s Amanda Henderson fanned back-to-back batters to end the threat. In the fourth inning, Smith tripled to right-center to open the frame, but Henderson struck out the next two batters before getting Kalie Hicks to hit a soft liner to first to end the inning.
Henderson allowed only three hits and fanned nine batters over five innings to earn the win. She improved to 11-4 in the circle.
Collier (7-5) suffered the loss after giving up three runs on six hits in four innings of work.
Angie Dascoli, Sutter and Megan Veringa each collected two hits for the Owls while Smith went 2-for-3 with an RBI to pace Furman.
Furman opens Southern Conference play this weekend with a three-game series versus Samford at Pepsi Stadium. First pitch for Saturday’s doubleheader is set for 1 p.m. with a single game scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday.