GREENVILLE, SC Furman's Katie Michael's lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to score Jessie Homesley in the bottom of the seventh inning in game one and Stephanie Cushing hit a one-out grand slam in the bottom of the seventh in game two as the Paladins swept a Southern Conference doubleheader from UNC Greensboro on Saturday, 2-1 and 11-7.
With game one tied at 1 heading into the bottom of the seventh, Homesley reached on a one-out error and went to second on a wild pitch. Another UNCG error on Meredith Mielke's sacrifice bunt attempt allowed Homesley to go to third and Mielke to reach, bringing Michaels to the plate with runners at the corners. Michaels delivered with a fly to center, bringing in Homesley to end the game.
After falling behind 1-0 in the first inning, the Spartans (9-14, 2-3 SoCon) evened the game at 1 in the top of the fourth. Lyndsay Mouse led off with a single single up the middle, then stole second. A wild pitch moved her to third, and Mary Catherine Vercoe knocked her in with a fielder's choice.
Mouse's hit was UNCG's lone safety of the game.
Furman (10-15, 2-3 SoCon) drew first blood in the bottom of the first on a pair of infield singles and Brythe Blankenship's sac fly, which brought in Stephanie Field.
Lana Mackey (5-7) picked up the win, allowing just one run on one hit and three walks in seven innings. She struck out eight.
Hannah Angel (5-6) took the hard-luck loss, surrendering two runs one earned on four hits and a walk in 6.2 innings. Angel struck out six on the day to move her career total to 413, four shy of second place on UNCG's career list.
UNCG led game two 7-6 heading into the seventh inning, but saw the Paladins score five runs for the stunning comeback win. Homesley earned a leadoff walk to get the rally going, and Michaels brought her in to tie the game with a single down the left field line.
A Field single and a UNCG fielding error loaded the bases, and Cushing ended the game in dramatic fashion, sending the first pitch she saw from Amber Harrell out to center for team-leading fourth home run of the season.
The Spartans got off to a hot start in the game, scoring four runs in the top of the first. Mouse's one-out solo home run got things started, and after Furman's two-out error prolonged the inning and loaded the bases, Kristen Gabel laced a triple to right center to score Vercoe, Whitney Miller and Whitney Sirois.
After UNCG made it 5-0 on Sirois' RBI triple in the top of the third, Furman got three runs back in the bottom half of the frame. The Spartans made it a 6-3 game on Mouse's RBI single in the fourth, but Blankenship countered with a three-run home run to tie the game.
The Spartans pushed across their seventh run of the day in the sixth inning, with Emily Akiyama reaching on a single and later scoring on an error.
Mouse, Vercoe and Akiyama all had two hits each in the game, while Cushing led the Paladins with a 3-for-4 showing.
Harrell fell to 3-7 on the season after allowing 11 runs seven earned on 10 hits and six walks.
Stephanie Mihaly picked up the win with six innings of relief, as she allowed three runs on seven hits and two walks to improve to 4-2.
The two squads will meet again Sunday at 1 p.m. to wrap up the three-game series.
AGATE
Furman 2, UNC Greensboro 1 (Mar 21, 2009 at Greenville, S.C.) (Game 1)
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UNC Greensboro...... 000 100 0 - 1 1 2 (9-13, 2-2 SoCon)
Furman.............. 100 000 1 - 2 4 0 (9-15, 1-3 SoCon)
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Pitchers: UNC Greensboro - Hannah Angel. Furman - Lana Mackey.
Win-Lana Mackey(5-7) Loss-Hannah Angel(5-6) T-1:31 A-0
Weather: 50, cloudy
Game: UNCG3211
Furman 11, UNC Greensboro 7 (Mar 21, 2009 at Greenville, S.C.) (Game 2)
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UNC Greensboro...... 401 101 0 - 7 11 3 (9-14, 2-3 SoCon)
Furman.............. 003 300 5 - 11 10 2 (10-15, 2-3 SoCon)
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Pitchers: UNC Greensboro - Amber Harrell. Furman - Bethany Ullrich; Stephanie Mihaly(2).
Win-Stephanie Mihaly(4-2) Loss-Amber Harrell(3-7) T-1:46 A-131
HR UNCG - Lyndsay Mouse (1).
HR FUR - Stephanie Cushing (4); Brythe Blankenship (1).
Weather: 58, sunny
Game: UNCG3212
