FURMAN SET TO TAKE ON UNC GREENSBORO IN FIRST ROUND
OF THE SOUTHERN CONFERENCE BASEBALL
Greenville, S.C.--Furman has claimed the fifth seed in the 2003 Southern Conference Baseball Tournament and will face fourth seeded UNC Greensboro on Wednesday at 10 a.m. at Joseph P. Riley Baseball Park in Charleston, S.C.
The Paladins finished in a three-way tie for fourth with UNCG and College
of Charleston. The tiebreaker formula first compared how each team did against
each the others involved in the tie. All three teams were 3-3 against each other.
The next step was then to look at how each team did against the highest seed
in the tournament. UNCG (36-19, 17-13) swept league-champion Western Carolina
so they are granted the fourth seed. Furman earns the fifth seed because the
Paladins took two of three games from the Cougars.
During the regular season, UNCG took two out of three games from Furman when
the teams met in Greenville back in March. The Spartans routed the Paladins
in game one of the series 14-4 behind the bat of Ryan Gordan and the arm of
Jay Metzger. Furman (31-22, 17-13) tied the series by winning the second game
2-1 as Tom Mastny pitched a complete game, giving up a lone run in the top of
the ninth inning. In the series finale, the Paladins had a 5-4 lead going into
the final three innings, but gave up runs in the seventh and the eighth innings,
letting UNCG rally to win 6-5.
The Paladins, who have won seven of their last eight contests, set a new school record with 31 victories on Saturday when they beat Charleston Southern 5-3. This is only the second time since 1891 that the Paladins have won 30 games or more in a season.
#4 UNCG vs. #5 Furman, 10 a.m.
#1 Western Carolina vs. #8 Davidson, 1:00 p.m.
#2 Georgia Southern vs. #7 VMI, 4:00 p.m.
#3 The Citadel vs. #6 College of Charleston, 7:30 p.m.