April 6, 2008
Box Score
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Jay Jackson scored on a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to lift Furman to a 5-4 win and doubleheader split with UNC Greensboro in Southern Conference baseball action Sunday at UNC Greensboro Stadium.
The victory in game two of the twinbill earned Furman (16-11, 3-6 SoCon) the series victory two games to one. UNC Greensboro (19-11, 5-4 SoCon) won Sunday's first game, 5-3, after Furman claimed a 5-2 in Friday's opener that was suspended and completed late Saturday afternoon.
With the score tied 4-4 in the eighth, Jackson reached on a one-out error and moved to second and third after teammates Reese Wade and Joey Rodgers were both hit by pitches. He then scored on Matt Hemingway's short pop fly into right field to put Furman ahead, 5-4.
Corey Overtholzer and Drew Gehringer led off the UNCG eighth with back-to-back singles off Paladin reliever Chris Newell, leading head coach Ron Smith to pull Newell for Nick Karow. After a sacrifice bunt moved Overtholtzer and Gehringer into scoring position, Furman third baseman Bobby Hubbard fielded a ground ball off the bat of Ray Quinones and retired Overtholzer in a run down. Karow then got Tim Carrier on an infield fly to end the threat.
In the ninth Karow pitched around a lead off single to record his second save of the series and help Newell (1-3) earn the victory, his first as a Paladin. Newell allowed two hits and a pair of walks while striking out in 2 1/3 innings of relief.
Furman, which managed just six hits in the contest, was led by Hemingway, who went 1-for-4 with two RBI. UNC Greensboro had nine hits, including two each by Matt Gaski, Overtholtzer, and Gehringer.
After taking a 1-0 lead in the first, Furman scored three times in the second on an RBI grounder by Hemingway, a double steal of second and home that plated Joey Rodgers, and RBI double by Connor Lind.
UNCG made it a 4-1 game in the bottom of the frame on a Quinones RBI single, and later in the fourth Quinones delivered his second RBI on the contest with a sacrifce fly to cut the Paladin lead to 4-2.
The Spartans tied the game in the fifth on a wild pitch by Paladin reliever Barry Benton and Sean Snell sacrifice fly.
UNC Greensboro captured game one, 5-3, after scoring twice in the seventh to break a 3-3 deadlock.
In the decisive seventh Snell drew a two-out, bases loaded walk off Paladin reliever Ian Parry to score the inning's first run and give the Spartans a 4-3 lead. Deleo then followed with an RBI single to make it a 5-3 lead.
Furman had tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the seventh with a pair of unearned runs.
Lind paced Furman's attack in game one with a 2-for-4 performance.
The loss went to Newell (1-3), who allowed a hit, two runs, and a walk in 1 2/3 innings of relief.
Earning the victory for the Spartans was James White (5-0), who worked a perfect seventh inning in relief of starter Matt Gibbs.
Furman returns to action on Tuesday when it entertains Gardner-Webb in a 6:00 p.m. game at Furman Stadium.
