April 23, 2008

Box Score

Greenville, S.C. - Morgan Hughey belted a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift Furman to an 8-5 victory and doubleheader split with USC Upstate in the 2008 home finale for the Paladins on Wednesday afternoon at Pepsi Stadium. USC Upstate (31-14) claimed game one, 10-1.

The Paladins twice rallied from two-run deficits to score the game two victory in their final non-conference contest of the season. After Upstate plated two runs in the top of the eighth to take a 5-3 lead, Kate Termini was placed on second base according to the international tiebreaker rule. Senior Colleen Harrison opened the inning with a single to right and Bethany Ullrich followed with her third hit of the day to drive home Termini and trim the lead to 5-4. Katie Michaels lined a single back up the middle to load the bases before Hughey blasted the game-winning grand slam over the right-center field fence for her third homer of the year.

Furman took the early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third on Stephanie Cushing's sacrifice fly. USC Upstate responded with a three-run top of the fifth. Ana Mitchell doubled and Kim Brasil followed with a triple to right center. The leftfielder scored on Amber Patterson's squeeze bunt and Heidi Gibbs capped the frame driving in Patterson with a single to center.

Michaels opened the bottom of the inning with a single to chase starter Brittany Rice. Hughey and Cushing greeted reliever Morgan Childers with back-to-back singles to load the bases with no one out. After Michaels was cut down at the plate and Brythe Blankenship struck out, Lana Mackey and Termini drew consecutive bases loaded walks to tie the game at 3-3.

Gibbs and Courtney Feldon delivered RBI singles to put the Spartans ahead in the top of the eighth before Furman rallied for the win.

Mackey (15-20) took the victory allowing four earned runs on 12 hits while fanning four batters. Hughey went 3-for-4 with four RBI while Michaels and Ullrich each collected three hits to pace Furman's 14-hit effort.

Rice (6-8) suffered the loss for Upstate. She gave up seven runs on 10 hits in four-plus innings of work. Childers allowed one run on four hits in three innings of relief. Gibbs led the Spartans attack going 3-for-4 with two RBI.

In game one, the Spartans used a six-run fourth inning to rout Furman, 10-1.

Shay Slater went 2-for-3 with a walk and three runs while Gibbs and Feldon each drove in two runs to lead USC Upstate. Abby Robertson plated Furman's only run of the game scoring Cushing on a first-inning single.

Mackey suffered the loss allowing four runs on five hits in five innings. Childers (24-5) limited Furman to a run on three hits to earn the victory.

Furman (20-26, 7-8 SoCon) turns its attention back to Southern Conference play when it travels to Western Carolina for a three-game series this weekend. Saturday's doubleheader and Sunday's series finale are both set to begin at 1 p.m.