March 27, 2004
Furman, UNC Greensboro Split Southern Conference Softball Twinbill
Greensboro, N.C. -- Furman pounded out 14 hits, including a 4-for-5 effort from centerfielder LaKerah Barr, on its way to a 9-5 victory over UNC Greensboro and split of its Southern Conference opening doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Campus Field in Greensboro, N.C. The Spartans overcame a 3-1 seventh inning deficit to down the Lady Paladins 4-3 in game one.
UNCG opened the scoring in game two with first inning RBI singles by Joni Gomez and Adrian Aubley giving the Spartans a 2-0 lead.
Furman answered with three runs in the top half of the second inning. Karen Myers started the inning with a walk, advanced to second on a passed ball and moved to third on Kristy Goodrich's sacrifice bunt. The Lady Paladins cut the lead in half on Valerie Cross' infield single scoring Myers.
After Kristin White popped out and Cross moved to second on a passed ball, Barr ripped an RBI double to left-centerfield to tie the game at 2-2. JoDee Eichelberger singled through the left side giving Furman runners at first and third and chasing starter Lynsi Pierce from the game. Megan Jaudon followed with an RBI double to center off of relief pitcher Vanessa Oakes to give Furman the 3-2 advantage.
Barr and Jaudon delivered RBI singles in the fourth and Goodrich batted home Jessica Matthews in the fifth to up the Furman lead to 6-3. In the eighth, Furman put the game out of reach. Barr reached on a one-out single, stole second and scored on Eichelberger's double to right field. With two outs, Matthews reached on a fielding error to keep the inning alive and give Furman runners at first and third. Joni Lockridge followed with a two-run double down the left field line to give Furman a 9-3 lead.
Jennifer Hubbard hit a two-run homer in the ninth, but Goodrich got Aubley to groundout to end the UNCG threat and preserve the win.
The win improved Goodrich, who pitched 4.0 innings of relief, to 2-7 while Pierce fell to 6-4 on the season. Goodrich allowed just the home run to Hubbard after entering the game in relief of Erica Nesselroad in the fourth.
Barr went 4-for-5 with three runs scored and two stolen bases to lead Furman. Eichelberger, Jaudon and Cross each collected two hits for the Lady Paladins while Matthews and Cross both scored two runs.
Pierce finished 3-for-3 with a double for the Spartans.
In game two, UNCG struck for three runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to rally for a 4-3 victory.
With a runner on first and two out, Hubard singled and Christina Montana drew a base on balls to load the bases. Starter Rachel Henley got Gomez to pop up in foul territory potentially ending the game, but Goodrich and Myers collided in foul ground causing the ball to pop out of Goodrich's glove.
Two pitches later, Gomez forced in a run when she was hit by a pitch making the score 3-2. Jennifer Bonilla followed with a two run single to center that bounced off of the glove of a diving Barr to end the game.
Danielle Byrne limited Furman to three runs on five hits over seven innings for the win, while Henley(4-13) suffered the loss allowing only one earned run and striking out five.
Hubbard went 2-for-3 and Byrne added a solo home run for the Spartans in the victory. Jaudon went 1-for-2 with an RBI triple to pace Furman
The Lady Paladins and Spartans conclude their three-game series with a single game scheduled for 1:00 Sunday afternoon.