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Furman Falls To UNC-Greensboro, 11-3
April 6, 2007
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Ryan Falcon pitched seven solid innings and Guy Welsh went 3-for-6 and drove in three runs to lead UNC Greensboro to an 11-3 win over Furman in Southern Conference baseball action Friday night at Greenville's West End Field.
Falcon (3-5), a senior lefthander, gave up only five hits while striking out eight and walking one in helping UNC-Greensboro (16-14, 4-3 SoCon) to the win.
The loss marked the seventh straight defeat for Furman (8-21, 4-6 SoCon), which managed only six hits in the contest while commiting four errors. The Paladins have scored just 15 runs, hit just .203, and committed 22 errrors in their current seven-game slide.
UNCG racked up 12 hits in the contest, including three by Welsh and two each by Matt Gaski, Greg Feltes, and Sean Snell.
Bobby Hubbard homered twice and had three of Furman's six hits while driving in all three runs, but the junior third baseman committed three of the Paladins' four errors.
UNCG wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard as Gaski singled off Paladin starter Matt Klinker (3-3) with one out in the first inning and Welsh followed with a two-run blast over the left centerfield fence for a 2-0 lead.
The Spartans made it 4-0 with pair of runs in the second, with the big hit coming on a two-out, two-run single by Scott Schneider.
In the UNCG fourth Gaski drew a two-out walk and came around to score on a Welsh double to left field to increase the Spartans' advantage to 5-0.
Furman finally broke through in the bottom of the fourth when Bobby Hubbard belted his first of two home runs of the contest, a solo shot to right field.
UNC blew the game open with a pair of two-run frames in the fifth and sixth innings to stretch their lead to 9-1.
Hubbard's second home run of the game made it 9-2 in the sixth.
Later in the eighth, the Paladins took advantage of a Hubbard RBI single and a couple of Spartan errors to load the bases with no outs and chase Falcon. UNCG reliever Clinton McKinney, however, doused Furman's only chance for a big inning by striking out both pinch hitter Charlie Bailes and Jay Jackson, and getting Cole Franklin on a grounder to end the inning.
The Spartans finished off their onslaught with a two-run ninth hightlighted by a Tim Carrier solo home run to left field.
Furman and UNC Greensboro will play a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 2:00 p.m. at Furman Stadium on campus.
