CHARLESTON, S.C. – Seventh-seeded Furman scored in seven of the nine innings and jumped out to a 10-3 lead early en route to a 12-6 win over No. 2 UNCG in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament on Wednesday at J.P. Riley Park. The loss snapped UNCG's eight-game winning streak.
Bobby Lyne (4-4) picked up the win for the Paladins (24-31) after going five innings and allowing five runs on six hits. Warren Slack (7-2) was credited with the loss after giving up six runs on six hits in just 2 1/3 innings of work.
Cody Walker continued his recent hot streak at the plate by going 2-5 with two RBI for UNCG (34-19), while Trevor Edwards also had a pair of RBI.
Reese Wade went 3-5 with three RBI and a run scored for the Paladins and Alex Abrams went a perfect 3-3 at the plate with an RBI and two runs scored. Leadoff hitter Will Owens also had three hits.
The Paladins jumped on the Spartans early with a run in the first to take the early lead. Owens led off with an infield single on a chopper over the head of the pitcher. After a strikeout, Owens moved to second on a groundout and then scored when Wade singled up the middle to make it 1-0.
Furman would add to its lead in the second inning after Furman was hit by a pitch, singled and drew a walk to load the bases. With two outs, J.B. Jenkins doubled off the left-field wall to push the Paladin lead out to 4-0.
UNCG would counter with a run of its own in the bottom of the second to make it 4-1. Chris Barker led off with a walk and moved over to second on a failed pickoff by the pitcher. He moved over to third on a passed ball before scoring on a single by Walker.
The Paladins scored two more runs in the third on an RBI single and sacrifice fly to stretch their lead to 6-1.
The Spartans would go on to cut the Furman lead down to 6-3 in the home half of the third. Edwards was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and Eric Brindle followed with a single to right field. Chris Barker was then hit by a pitch to load the bases before Walker hit an infield single to score Edwards. Brindle would score later on a sacrifice fly to make it a three-run game.
That was as close as UNCG would get the rest of the afternoon as Furman added two more runs in the fifth on an RBI double by Will Muzika and an RBI single from Will Miller.
After the Paladins made it 10-3 with two runs in the top of the sixth, UNCG would put up three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Bobby Martin had an RBI single in the inning and Edwards slapped a two-run single to left field to make it 10-6.
Furman would go on to add one run in the seventh and another in the ninth to make it 12-6.
The Spartans will now face No. 6 Appalachian State, who fell to No. 3 Samford, on Thursday at 9 a.m.
AGATE
Furman 12, UNCG 6
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Furman.............. 132 022 101 - 12 17 2 (24-31)
UNCG................ 012 003 000 - 6 11 1 (34-19)
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Pitchers: Furman - Bobby Lyne; Stephen Gary(6); Drake Browne(6); Dylan Cole(9) and Paul Nitto. UNCG - Warren Slack; Jonathan Jones(3); Greg Smith(5); Zach Furl(5); Tyler Hollstegge(7); Dylan Hathcock(9) and Trevor Edwards; Zach Leach.
Win-Bobby Lyne(4-4) Loss-Warren Slack(7-2) T-3:08 A-542
Weather: 80 and sunny
Smith faced 2 batters in the 5th.
Lyne faced 2 batters in the 6th.
- UNCG -
