April 27, 2003
EAST TENNESSEE STATE SHUTS OUT LADY PALADINS 4-0, SWEEPS THREE-GAME SERIES
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- East Tennessee State's Lindsay Lane and Janine Sprague each blasted two-run homers and Julia McChain tossed 4.2 innings of scoreless relief as the Buccaneers defeated Furman 4-0 to sweep their three-game Southern Conference series Sunday at Pepsi Stadium.
East Tennessee State grabbed the lead in the top of the second when Lane led off the inning with a solo home run to right-center field. The Buccaneers added to the lead when Mary Beth Hazelwood drove in Julia Chance with a two-out bloop single to center.
The Lady Paladins loaded the bases in the second and third innings, but came away with nothing. In the second, Kate Morrison led off with a double. Jessica Matthews drew a walk and Meagen Johnson singled to load the bases. Carolina Evans followed with a fly out to right. Morrison, attempting to score, was thrown out at the plate on the play. Starting pitcher Jennifer Fraser got out of the inning by getting Kelli Leachman to pop up to second.
After loading the bases again in the bottom of the third, McChain got Kate Morrison to hit into a 5-2-3 double play to retire the side.
The Buccaneers extended their lead to 4-0 in the top of the fifth when Sprague belted a two-out, two run shot to right-center.
McChain, 2-2 on the season, earned the win in relief for ETSU. Johnson (8-12) suffered the loss for Furman allowing four runs in seven innings of work on only three Buccaneer hits.
Prague went 1-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored to lead East Tennessee State. Freshman Joni Lockridge collected to hits off the bench to pace the Furman attack.
With the win, ETSU improves to 21-24 overall and 7-10 in the Southern Conference while Furman falls to 18-27 and 7-11 in the league.
The Lady Paladins return to action Wednesday afternoon when they travel to Georgia State for a twinbill with the Panthers.