April 5, 2003
FURMAN TAKES GAME ONE FROM UNC WILMINGTON 8-0, GAME TWO SUSPENDED
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Kelli Leachman went 2-for-4 with three RBI to lead Furman to an 8-0 victory over UNC Wilmington (16-23, 2-4 SoCon) in softball action Saturday afternoon at Pepsi Stadium. Game two, suspended due to darknes after five innings with Furman leading 5-1, will be completed at 12 p.m. Sunday.
The Lady Paladins, 17-16 overall and 6-4 in the Southern Confernce, jumped to an early lead with three first inning runs. Pitcher Meagen Johnson opened the scoring with a double to center scoring LaKerah Barr. Furman increased its advantage to 2-0 when Kate Morrison drove home Caroline Evans with a one-out single to left field. After Jessica Matthews and Leachman reached on fielder's choices, Joni Lockridge singled up the middle to drive home Morrison to give the Lady Paladins a 3-0 lead.
Furman upped its lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the third on RBI singles from Leachman and catcher Karen Myers. Leachman capped the Lady Paladins scoring and ended the game in the sixth by singling up the middle with one out to score Morrison and pinch runner Kristen Arnold to give Furman the final 8-0 margin.
Johnson (8-8) picked up the win for Furman allowing only three hits over six innings for the complete-game shutout.
Jamie Gostyla (6-13) suffered the loss for the Seahawks after surrendering five runs on nine hits in three innings of work.
Lockridge and Morrison joined Leachman in collecting two hits each for the Lady Paladins, while Morrison also scored three runs.
After game two is completed Sunday, the Lady Paladins and Seahawks will play game three of their weekend series at approximately 1:30 p.m.