GREENSBORO, N.C. – Furman scored six runs in the top of the first inning Friday evening on the way to a 9-4 victory over UNCG in the opener of a Southern Conference series at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.

The Paladins (14-18, 4-6) notched 12 hits, clubbed three home runs and struck out 13 Spartan batters in the victory. UNCG (14-16, 5-5) tallied a home run as part of a 10-hit effort as the Spartans have now hit a long ball in a school-record 12-straight contests and 33 total in the 2015 season.

Junior RHP Ryan Clark fell to 5-3 overall after surrendering seven runs on eight hits with four walks and nine strikeouts – just one strikeout off of his career high. Matt Solter tossed seven innings and improved his record to 2-2 as he allowed four runs on 10 hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts.

Senior outfielders Eric Kalbfleisch and Tyler Long ended up with two hits apiece while senior infielder Hunter King scored a run and drove in a pair. His sixth home run of the campaign in the fifth inning tied him for the team lead with classmate Aaron Wright. Chris Ohmstede paced Furman with three hits, a run scored and three driven in.

Carter Grote drew a leadoff walk to begin the evening and moved to second on a Jake Jones single to shallow left field. A sacrifice bunt by Griffin Davis moved both runners into scoring position for Ohmstede who plated both of his teammates with a single through the left side. A fielder's choice accounted for the second out but the Paladins were not finished. Furman netted four two-out runs, highlighted by a Ryan Morse two-run home run, to take a commanding six run lead after a half inning of play.

Long drove in Wright with a RBI single in the bottom of the second for UNCG's first run of the contest and Clark kept the Paladins off of the scoreboard for the next four frames to keep the Blue and Gold within striking distance. With one out in the bottom of the fifth and senior outfielder Zac MacAneney on first after a fielder's choice, King crushed a ball over the left center field fence to pull the Spartans within 6-3.

Morse homered again in the top of the sixth to push his team's lead back to four runs but UNCG mounted a rally in the bottom of the inning. A trio of consecutive singles loaded the bases with no outs but Solter recorded the first out by fanning senior outfielder Nick Chapman. MacAneney followed with a sac fly to make it a 7-4 game and King drew a walk to load the bases again. Solter was able to wriggle out of the jam, however, as he was given the edge of the plate and struck out junior infielder Collin Woody on a 2-2 count.

Furman added runs in the eighth and ninth innings before the Spartans were retired in order in the bottom of the ninth to end the game.

The teams return to the field Saturday for the middle game of the series. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Keep up with the UNCG baseball team all season by logging on to www.uncgspartans.com and following the Spartans' official Twitter accounts @UNCGBaseball/@uncgsports.