May 5, 2002
CHATTANOOGA, TN - The Furman softball team survived an afternoon that included three consecutive games at the 2002 Sonic Southern Conference Softball Tournament, keeping them alive for the tournament's final day.
After falling 3-2 to Georgia Southern in their first game of the day, the Lady Paladins eliminated College of Charleston, 3-1, and ETSU, 7-6.
Against College of Charleston, the Lady Paladins took an early 1-0 lead, as LaKerah Barr started the game with an infield hit. Barr moved to second on a Kristin White groundout and then to third on a Jessica Matthews single to leftfield. Kate Morrison got the RBI, as her flyball to centerfield was deep enough to score Barr.
Charleston answered back in the top of the second inning. Lauren Rabun doubled off the right field fence scoring Martha McCall to tie the game at 1-1.
Both defenses eventually settled down as both Furman and College of Charleston each allowed only one base-runner over the next three innings.
Furman took advantage of its scoring opportunities in the bottom of the sixth inning. Back-to-back bunt singles by LaKerah Barr and Kristin White and a single to centerfield by Jessica Matthews gave the Lady Paladins the bases loaded with no outs. Barr would score on a wild pitch and White would plate on an RBI single by Meagen Johnson, giving Furman a 3-1 lead.
The Lady Paladins held on in the top of the seventh for the 3-1 win, as Rachel Henley improved to 12-11 on the year. The Lady Paladins eliminated College of Charleston and moved on to face East Tennessee State.
In Furman's third consecutive game of the afternoon, the Lady Paladins faced East Tennessee State in another elimination game.
Fuman got on the board early, 2-0, thanks to three straight singles by LaKerah Barr, Kristin White, and Jessica Matthews. Barr scored on Matthews' single and White scored on a sacrifice fly by Kate Morrison.
After Jessica Matthews was hit by a Tiffany Vandergriff pitch, Kate Morrison knocked in her second run of the game in the top of the third inning on a double to left center that scored Matthews from first. Morrison would then score from second on a Meagen Johnson single to leftfield as Furman took a 4-0 lead.
ETSU got one run back in the bottom of the third as Mary Beth Hazelwood singled to right field and stole second. Tiffany Vandergriff then doubled off the centerfield fence to score Hazelwood and cut the lead to 4-1.
ETSU scored again in the bottom of the fifth as April Arnold doubled in Mary Beth Hazelwood. Two great defensive plays by catcher Jessica Matthews helped end the Buccaneer rally. Matthews made a diving catch on a foul ball for the second out of the inning and then threw out Arnold trying to steal third.
Furman tacked on three more runs in the top of the sixth inning as six Lady Paladins reached base on four hits. Caroline Evans started the inning with a lead-off double and eventually scored on a Jessica Matthews single. Kate Morrison then knocked in her third and fourth RBIs of the game with a single to right center that scored LaKerah Barr and Kristin White.
ETSU scared the Lady Paladins with four runs in the bottom of the seventh, before starter Rachel Henley returned to get the final three outs.
Henley was the pitcher of record for all three games today, improving her season mark to 13-11. She pitched 16 innings this afternoon, including 15 straight.
"I'm extremely proud of our girls," said head coach Bonnie Flynn. "The Georgia Southern game was such an emotional game, but our girls bounced back. Winning these two games says a lot about this group-especially having to play back-to-back-to-back."
LaKerah Barr led the Lady Paladins, going 7-for-11 and scoring four runs on the day.
Furman improved to 23-23 on the year and survived another day at the Southern Conference Tournament. The Lady Paladins face Georgia Southern on Monday morning at 10:00 a.m. with the winner to faced top-seeded Chattanooga.