March 11, 2001
FURMAN COMPLETES SERIES SWEEP WITH 7-4 WIN OVER EAST TENNESSEE STATE
GREENVILLE -- Toby David pitched seven innings of shut out ball and Adam Etherington extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a 2-for-4, 3 RBI performance to lead Furman to a 7-4 Southern Conference win and three-game series sweep of visiting East Tennessee State Sunday after Furman Stadium.
The win, Furman's fourth straight, gives the Paladins (15-6, 5-1 SoCon) their best start in league play since 1979. Furman's 15-6 record through 21 games is the best in school history.The Buccaneers (5-14, 1-5 SoCon) lost their fifth consecutive game.
David, a senior lefthander, scattered five hits, struck out two, and walked none while improving to 4-1 on the season. East Tennessee State's Matt Hensley (0-3) absorbed the loss, giving up 14 hits and seven runs in eight innings of work.
Furman jumped on top in the second, taking advantage of a pair of East Tennessee State errors to plate three runs on RBI singles by Etherington, Clint Hill, and Derek Norman.
After upping their lead to 4-0 with a run in the fourth, Furman struck for three more runs in the fifth to make it 7-0 on the strength of a two-run double by Etherington and a sacrifice fly by Richie Dean.
East Tennessee State avoided the shutout by scoring four runs in the ninth off Paladin reliever Kyle Funk.
Also contributing to Furman's 14-hit attack were Justin Maderer (4-for-4, 3 runs) and Chris Valdes (3-for-5).
"We played well today. Toby came out and threw strikes and kept them off balance, and we played solid defense for the second straight game, not committing any errors," said Furman head coach Ron Smith. "Rusty Putnam also gave us a solid inning of work. It was a good win for us, a good sweep, but we've got a long way to go."
Furman returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts Georgia State at Furman Stadium in a 3:00 p.m. game. The Paladins downed the Panthers 9-1 in Atlanta on Feb. 20.Furman's next conference series is against Appalachian State beginning with a doubleheader next Saturday in Boone.