DAVIDSON TAKES SERIES AS PALADINS AND WILDCATS SPLIT DOUBLEHEADER
Greenville, S.C.--Derek Norman hit a three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the tenth inning to propel Furman to a 9-6 come from behind victory against Davidson in game one of a doubleheader in baseball action Friday night at Furman Baseball Stadium. In the night cap, the Wildcats blasted two home runs in the top of the ninth inning with two-outs to take the series with a 9-7 win.
Davidson jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first game after the Wildcats pounded out six hits in the fourth inning, chasing Furman starter Matt Klinker.
The Paladins responded in the bottom half of the frame as centerfielder Andrew Greene hit his first collegiate home run, a two-run blast, cutting the Wildcat lead to 4-2.
Jay Heafner then answered back for Davidson with a solo shot in the fifth,
pushing the score to 5-2.
With the Paladins down 5-3 in the eighth inning, Wildcat starter Matt Dellinger
walked Nick Mershon and Matthew Betsill after forcing Dominic Franchini to groundout
to begin the frame. Reliever Rob Wilson took over for Dellinger and Craig Caudill
followed by lacing a double to left center, scoring Mershon and Betsill to tie
the game at 5-5.
After a scoreless ninth for both teams, Davidson drew first blood in extra frames as Eli Benefield singled in Andrew Musashe off closer Calvin Hurst (3-3), giving the Wildcats a 6-5 lead.
In the bottom of the tenth, pinch-hitter Matt Madison tied the game for the Paladins when his singled scored Nick Mershon, who had led off the inning with a single. A.J. Davidiuk then reached on fielder’s choice to put runners on first and third and Norman followed with his seven home run of the year off Justin Hartanov (3-6) to give Furman a 9-6 victory, snapping a ninth game losing streak.
In game one Norman went 4-for-6 with three RBI and two runs scored to lead
the Paladins while Ronnie Shore picked up three hits and two RBI for Davidson.
Davidson wasted no time getting on the board in game two as the Wild cats raced
out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning off a Taylor Shoop two-run home run.
However, Furman was able to tie the game at 2-2 apiece in the bottom half of
the inning as Davidiuk blased a solo home run and Franchini singled in Case
Cassedy.
In the third inning, Shoop torched starter Sam Perry again, this time a two-run triple, giving Davidson a 5-3 lead. Catcher Alex Entrekin followed with an RBI single to make it 5-2.
The Paladins and Wildcats exchanged runs in the fifth inning and Furman tacked on another run in the bottom of the six to make it 6-4.
Furman came to the eighth trailing again, but used five hits to score three runs to claim a 7-6 lead. Norman led off the inning with a double and later scored onb a Sam McLain double, slicing Davidson’s lead to 6-5. Betsill followed with another double to tie the game at 6-6. Franchini then singled up the middle to give the Paladins their first lead of the game.
Nick Hollstegge began the ninth on the mound for the Paladins and was able to strike-out Musashe, before walking the next batter. Hurst then relieved Hollstegge, but was only able to retire the first batter he faced. Jay Heafner followed with a two-run home run, allowing Davidson to regain the lead at 8-7. Next Shoop added an insurance run for the Wildcats as he blasted his second home run of the day, pushing the lead to 9-7.
After giving Davidson the lead with his two-run home run in the ninth, Heafner came in to close the game for the Wildcats. The righthander struck out the first two batters to begin the frame, but ran into trouble after allowing Case Cassedy to single. William Stembridge then doubled to left field to put runners on second and third. Betsill followed with a blast to deep centerfield, howeverMusashe caught the ball on the warning track to seal the victory for Davidson.
Rob Wilson (1-0) picked up the win in the relief and Heafner earned his tenth save of the season. After recordin the win in the first game, Hurst was charged with the loss, giving up two runs on four hits in two-thirds of an inning.
Shoop finished the game with three hits and five RBI for Davidson.
Furman (18-32, 9-18) is now fighting with Western Carolina for the eighth and final spot in the Southern Conference tournament sponsered by the Virginia and Carolina Peanut Growers and National Peanut Board slated for May 26-29 in Charleston, S.C. The Paladins are in ninth place with one series remaining on their schedule. The Catamounts, who swept Furman earlier this season, are in eight place after a 4-3 win against Wofford tonight and have five games left.
The Paladins return to action on Tuesday when they host Gardner-Webb in the home finale of the 2004 seaaon. Furman’s five seniors will be honor before the game, which is slated to begin at 5:00 p.m.