April 26, 2008
Box Score
CULLOWHEE, N.C. -- A day after beating Western Carolina with his arm, Furman's Jay Jackson clubbed the Catamounts with his bat, going 3-for-5 with a three-run home run and four RBI in a 13-4 Paladin triumph Saturday in game two of the three-game Southern Conference series at Hennon Stadium.
On Friday Jackson recorded a career high 11 strikeouts over eight innings in a 4-2 victory, and Saturday evening the junior pitcher/outfielder delivered a three-run home run in the first inning to stake Furman to a 6-0 lead that it never relinquished. He later doubled and finished off his performance with an RBI single in a six-run eighth inning as Furman (25-15, 11-6 SoCon) blew the game open on the way to its ninth straight league victory and fourth triumph in the its last five games against Western Carolina (19-23, 7-10 SoCon) in Cullowhee.
Furman's nine-game SoCon winning streak is the longest in-season winning streak in school history and just a game shy of the 10-game run the Paladins posted over the final three games of the 2005 campaign and seven consecutive league wins to start the 2006 season.
In taking the series' first two games Furman, which was picked ninth a preseason poll by SoCon head coaches, also climbed into third place in the league standings
Solid pitching by senior starter Mason Smith (4-3) and an offense that racked up 17 hits against Catamount pitching helped Furman overcome five errors. Heading into the contest the Paladins had reeled off a string of five straight errorless games.
Smith worked 6 1/3 innings, allowing six hits and four runs, though only one was earned, with one walk and two strikeouts.
In additon to Jackson's big offensive night, Bobby Hubbard and Ryan Lee both had two hits, scored two runs, and tallied a pair of RBI. Marcus Rose, Matt Hemingway, and Reese Wade also collected two hits apiece for the Paladins.
Jackson's three-run home run in the first inning helped give Furman a 6-0 lead and chase Western Carolina starting and losing pitcher Drew Saberhagen (3-5).
A pair of Furman errors led to two runs for Western Carolina in the bottom of the first, and the Catamounts used another Paladin misuce to plate a run in the third to cut the lead to 6-3.
After Dylan de Graaf stole home in the fourth to make it a 6-4 game, Furman answered with a Joey Rodgers sacrifice fly for a 7-4 advantage.
It remained a three-run game until the eighth when the Paladins sent 10 men to the plate and tallied six runs on five hits. Hubbard's two-run double and Lee's two-run single proved to be the big blows, and Jackson's single up the middle capped the frame for Furman.
Spencer Hale and J.P. Goldsberry combined to work a scoreless eighth and ninth for the Paladins.
Sunday's series finale has been moved up to noon due to a threat of inclement weather.
