October 7, 2000
Release: Upon Receipt

Furman Softball Drops One to Winthrop, Defeats Mercer in Tournament Play

Greenville, SC - The Furman Softball team fell to Winthrop 4-3 before defeating Mercer 5-1 in Saturday's tournament play at Furman Softball Stadium.

In their first game, the Lady Paladins (1-1) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as Kelly Van Houten reached on a single and scored on a RBI double by Katherine Brittain. Winthrop answered with two runs on on two hits and a Furman error in the bottom of the inning. Winthrop held their 2-1 lead until the seventh when senior Chrissy Hacker scored on an error to tie the game 2-2. Furman held the Lady Eagles in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings. The Lady Paladins were unable to produce any runs in the top of the eighth and fell 4-3 as Lady Eagle Lisa Ryan's RBI single scored Kayce Driggers in the bottom of the inning.

In the second game, Furman took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Brittain reached on a double and scored on an Amanda Lewis RBI single. Another Brittain-Lewis combination increased the Lady Paladin lead to 2-0 in the top of the fourth. Mercer answered in the bottom of the inning as Stacy Nagel reached on a single and later scored on Christine Mattice's RBI single. Furman's final three runs came in the top of the fifth off of Van Houten's RBI single and a two RBI single by Hacker.

Furman's Chrissy Hacker (0-1) suffered the loss against Winthrop, while Lady Eagle Stephanie Koester (1-0) earned the win. Against Mercer Lady Paladin Kelly Jack (1-0) earned the win, while Mercer's Christine Mattice (0-1) took the loss. Tommorrow Furman will face Presbyterian College at 11:00 a.m. and USC Spartanburg at 1:00 p.m. in the final day of the fall tournament.

Game One
Furman 100 000 10 - 2 3 1
Winthrop 200 000 01 - 3 6 2

Game Two
Furman 010 130 0 - 5 8 0
Mercer 000 100 0 - 1 6 2