April 13, 2003
FURMAN’S 20-HIT ATTACK OVERWHELMS APPALACHIAN STATE 15-1
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Dominic Frankey went 3-for-5 and drove in three runs and Kyle Funk earned his second straight victory with six strong innings on the mound to pace Furman to a 15-1 win over Appalachian State in Southern Conference baseball action Sunday afternoon at Furman Baseball Stadium.
In earning the three-game series sweep, Furman (18-14, 9-9 SoCon) won for the seventh time in its last eight games. The loss was the fourth straight and eighth setback in the last 10 games for Appalachian State (8-22, 3-12 SoCon). The series sweep was the first by Furman since the Paladins took three straight from VMI last year.
Frankey, who homered and drove in three runs in Saturday’s 9-2 victory over the Mountaineers, delivered a pair of early run scoring singles and an RBI double in the sixth to pace Furman’s season high 20-hit attack. The Paladins’ 15 runs topped the previous season high in a 14-1 rout of North Carolina State on Feb. 25.
Funk (3-1) struck out four and surrendered only four hits and one run in his six innings of work.
Furman jumped on Appalachian State starter Scott Clark (0-6) for four runs in the first inning. Clint Hill led off with a double and scored on Craig Caudill’s single to left field. Derek Norman followed with a single to centerfield to move Caudill to third, where he scored on Dominic Frankey’s base hit to right field. One out later Sam McLain walked to load the bases, and Norman came home on a ground out by Matthew Betsill for the inning’s third run. Andrew Greene extended the Paladin rally with an RBI double down the right field line to plate Frankey and chase Clark after only two outs. Mountaineer reliever Monty Fast quelled the uprising by striking out A.J. Davidiuk.
Appalachian State got on the board in the second to make it 4-1 on an RBI single by Brad Peisel, but the Paladins answered with a run in the bottom of the frame for a 5-1 lead on Frankey’s infield single that scored Hill.
Furman continued the onslaught in the third, striking for three runs on four hits. Consecutive singles by McLain, Betsill, and Greene loaded the bases, and Dadidiuk followed with a base knock to centerfield to drive in two runs. An error on the throw home by centerfielder Justin Thomas allowed Greene to take third, where he scored on a ground out by Caig Caudill to make it 8-1.
After an RBI single by Hill in the fifth inning made it a 9-1, the Paladins blew the game open with a six-run sixth off Mountaineer reliever Thomas Krasnor. A run scoring double by Frankey opened the scoring, and Frankey came home later along with Richie Dean on a single by Case Cassedy. After Andrew Greene was hit by Krasnor, pinch hitter Brandon Barrett delivered a three-run home run to left to stretch the Furman advantage to 15-1.
Andrew Greene went 3-for-3 with an RBI and scored three runs, and Clint Hill went 3-for-4 with and RBI and two runs for the Paladins.
Furman returns to action on Wednesday when it takes on Charlotte in Charlotte in a 6:30 p.m. game. Appalachian State entertains Wake Forest in Boone, N.C., on Tuesday beginning at 3:00 p.m.