April 4, 2007

Box Score

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Arik Hempy pitched five innings of shutout ball and Reese Havens went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI to lead nationally fourth-ranked South Carolina to a 10-0 blanking of Furman in baseball action Wednesday evening at Sarge Frye Field.

Hempy (2-0), a junior lefthander, allowed only two hits and two walks while striking out five en route to earning the win, USC's 100th in its series with Furman that dates back to 1896. The Gamecocks hold a 100-51-2 lead in the series.

South Carolina (24-6) banged out 12 hits in the contest, including three by Havens and two each by Harley Lail and Travis Jones, who also combined to drive in four runs for USC.

Bobby Hubbard had Furman's lone extra base hit, a double in the ninth inning. The Paladins had only four hits in the contest. Furman (8-20) has now lost six straight and has scored only 12 runs during its losing skid.

Furman Nick Hollstegge (0-4) took the loss after making his first start since 2004. The Paladin senior righthander went 2 2/3 innings and allowed two hits and an unearned run while walking five.

Thanks to solid work by Spencer Hale, who threw 2 1/3 innings of no-hit hall in relief of Hollstegge, Furman managed to keep it a 1-0 game until the bottom of the sixth inning. That's when the Paladins brought on Marc DeDecker, who promptly walked Drew Martin to lead off the frame and then surrendered a single to Jones and an RBI double to Havens to make it 2-0. The Gamecocks went on to score four more runs in the inning to stretch their lead to 6-0.

USC tacked on a pair of runs in both the seventh and eighth innings to close out the scoring.

Furman returns to action on Friday when it opens a three-game Southern Conference series against UNC-Greensboro at Greenville's West End Field. First pitch is set for 7:00 p.m. Saturday's double header will be played on campus at Furman Stadium beginning at 2:00 p.m.