WOFFORD DOWNS FURMAN, 9-5
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- David Dufour went 4-for-5 and drove in four runs to lead Wofford to a 9-5 win over Furman in Southern Conference baseball action Saturday night at Furman Stadium.
Dufour, who torched Furman with a pair of home runs and five RBI in Friday’s 10-1 win, doubled and singled three times to pace Wofford’s 14-hit attack. Stephen Johnson added three hits, and Steve Casey and David Long delivered a pair of base knocks for the Terriers (14-18, 5-12 SoCon).
Matthew Betsill went 3-for-4 to pace Furman (11-22, 4-10 SoCon), but the Paladins committed five errors in the contest leading to four unearned runs.
Wofford starting pitcher Jesse Cole (4-3) was touched up for a pair of earned runs and six hits over the first two innings but settled down to hurl six complete innings and record three strikeouts on the way to the win.
David Mitchell (2-5) absorbed the loss after yielding 10 hits and four earned runs over 5 2/3 innings.
Wofford used three consecutive two-out hits in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead on Dufour’s RBI single to right field that drove home Long.
Furman answered with a run in the bottom of the inning after Derek Norman tripled to lead off and came home on A.J. Davidiuk’s single.
Casey’s two-run single in the second inning put the Terriers ahead 3-1, but Furman rallied with three runs in the bottom of the frame, highlighted by Norman’s two-out RBI single to right field, to take a 4-3 lead.
Wofford tied the game in the fourth on a Tony Carbone hit that plated Bert Parker, and the Terriers went up 6-4 in the sixth with a run scoring single by Stephen Johnson that chased Furman starting pitcher David Mitchell and a base hit by Dufour off reliever Ryan Hudson that scored Long.
Highlighted by Dufour’s two-run single, the Terriers combined three hits with three Furman errors in the eighth inning to extend their advantage to 9-4.
Sam McClain’s solo home run in the eighth inning made it 9-5, but Wofford relieverer Charles Vartanian pitched effectively over the final three innings on the way to earning his third save of the campaign.
The Paladins and Terriers wrap up the three-game series Sunday afternoon with a 1:00 p.m. game.