March 3, 2007
Final Stats
DAVIDSON, N.C.. -- Matt Webb went 4-for-5 with a home run and also notched his third save of the season in helping Davidson to an 8-7 win over Furman in Southern Conference baseball action Saturday afternoon at Wilson Field.
Webb's solo home run in the bottom of the first inning tied the game at 1-1, and the Wildcats (7-1, 1-1 SoCon) later used a five-run fourth inning to overcome a 4-1 deficit on the way to posting their first win over the Paladins (3-5, 1-1 SoCon) since 2004, snapping Furman's seven-game series winning streak.
Davidson pounded out 15 hits in the contest, including three home runs. Led by Will Stembridge's 3-for-4 performance, Furman managed 13 hits, but the Paladins stranded 14 runners in the contest.
Chris Kennedy (1-0) earned the win in the relief, and the loss was charged to Will Feemster (0-1), who yielded four runs on seven hits in 2 1/3 innings of relief.
For the second straight game Furman scored in the first inning, taking advantage of two hit batsmen, a walk, and a wild pitch to grab a 1-0 lead against Wildcat starting pitcher Shenk.
After Webb knotted the game at 1-1 with a solo home run to center field, the Paladins struck for a pair of runs in the third inning on RBI singles by Jay Jackson and Connor Lind to take a 3-1 lead.
Furman stretched its lead to 4-1 in the fourth on a Tony Maccani fielder's choice RBI, but Davidson responded with a five-run outburst in the bottom of the frame, highlighted by a solo home run by Gregory Zage and two-run blast by Chris Fitzpatrick, which chased Paladin starting pitcher Richard Magrath. Will Feemster, who came on in relief of Magrath, yieleded three hits and pair of runs before getting out of the inning.
Furman battled back to tie the game at 6-6 with single runs in the fifth and sixth, but the Wildcats answered with a pair of runs in the the sixth to forge an 8-6 lead.
The Paladins made it 8-7 with a run in the seventh and threatened to tie the game in the eighth after Tony Maccani led off with a double. But Paul Ortenzo struck out, and Maccani was thrown out at third on Jay Jackson's fielder's choice grounder to shortstop. Jackson was then erased on a force at second.
Webb combined his solid work at the plate by working a scoreless ninth inning to notch his third save of the season.
The series finale is set for 1:00 p.m. Sunday.
