Birmingham, Ala. – Furman erased a 4-2 deficit with four runs in the top of the seventh inning to rally past Samford for a 6-4 victory in its Southern Conference series finale on Sunday afternoon in Birmingham, Ala.
The victory helped Furman salvage a game in the series and improve to 20-26 overall and 8-6 in SoCon play. The Bulldogs slipped to 20-27 overall and 9-6 in league play.
Trailing 4-2 after six innings,
Ainsley Yoshizumi opened the seventh with a line drive single off the leg of the pitcher and
Ashlee Lykins reached on an error by the Bulldogs' shortstop to ignite the rally. After
Caitlin Goldwait bounced into a fielder's choice,
Riley Ludlam singled up the middle to trim the margin to 4-3. Samford's McKenzie Newcomb got
Kiley Perry to popup to the third baseman for the second out of the frame, but with the Paladins down to their final strike, freshman
Sylvia Burroughs lined a 3-2 pitch off the right field fence to drive in Goldwait and Ludlam to give Furman a 5-4 lead. Junior
Alex Rose Molinar followed with a single to right field to plate pinch runner
Natalie Aiello and stretch the Paladin advantage to 6-4.
In the bottom of the seventh, McKayla Cothran reached base on an infield single, but Furman sophomore
Lauralee Scott induced a fielder's choice, a pop out to third base, and grounder to shortstop to end the game. Scott, who came on in relief of starter
Emme Buzhardt in the second inning, allowed just one earned run on seven hits over six innings in the circle. She fanned three batters and issued two walks while improving to 3-8 on the year.
Newcomb (10-9) suffered the loss for the Bulldogs. She allowed four runs, all unearned, on five hits in 4.2 innings of relief.
Samford jumped ahead 2-0 in the first inning on RBI singles from Logan Champion and Merritt Cahoon before Perry put Furman on the board with a towering blast to left-centerfield in the top half of the second. The homer marked the league-leading 13
th roundtripper for the freshman first baseman. After Samford added a run in the bottom of the second, Perry delivered an RBI single in the top of the third to cut the Bulldogs lead back to a single run.
Perry and Burroughs each went 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of RBIs while Ludlam went 3-for-4 with a double and one RBI. Ludlam reached base safely for the 12
th straight game and Burroughs extended her streak of reaching safely to 11 games.
Sarah Squillace, Cothran, and Champion each notched two hits apiece for the Bulldogs.
Furman concludes its 2023 home schedule next weekend when it hosts the Chattanooga Mocs in a three-game series at Pepsi Stadium. The series begins with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday. The first pitch of Sunday's series finale is also set for 1 p.m.
