April 15, 2006

Box Score

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Tony Maccani's two-out, two-run double highlighted a five-run seventh inning and keyed Furman to a 9-7 come-from-behind win over Georgia Southern in Southern Conference baseball action Saturday afternoon at Furman Stadium.

Trailing 7-1, the Paladins (23-11, 10-2 SoCon) rallied for three runs in the sixth inning and scored five in the seventh to take the win and rubber game of the three-game series from the Eagles (20-19, 7-5 SoCon).

The victory marked the 17th triumph in the last 19 clashes for Furman against SoCon opposition dating back to last year and 12th victory in the last 13 home games for the Paladins, who also claimed their fourth decision in last five meetings with the Eagles.

Furman's bullpen, which hurled 4 2/3 innings of scoreless ball in Friday's 14-3 Paladin victory over GSU, delivered another strong performance, yielding only three hits and one run over the final four innings to set the stage for the Paladin comeback.

A.J. Davidiuk paced Furman's 13-hit attack with a 3-for-4, two RBI performance that included his seventh home run of the season. The senior shortstop from Indian Trail, N.C., went 8-for-12, homered twice, scored six runs, and collected four RBI in the three game series. Maccani and Ben Terry added two hits each for the Paladins, who are now batting .340 as a team on the season.

David Mitchell (2-0) picked up the win after working 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief before giving way to Nick Hollstegge, who held the Eagles hitless while recording two strikeouts over the final 1 2/3 innings for his seventh save of the campaign.

Georgia Southern's bullpen, meanwhile, surrendered five earned runs on five hits and a pair of walks over 2 1/3 innings. David Cogswell (1-5) absorbed the loss the loss after entering the game in seventh and giving up three runs on three hits, including Maccani's two-run double that put Furman ahead 8-7.

Georgia Southern opened the scoring in the fourth with Greg Dowling's third home run of the series, a towering solo shot over the right field fence off Paladin starting pitcher Ryan Hodinka.

Furman quickly tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the frame on Davidiuk's lead off home run to left field off Eagle starter Josh Lairsey.

In the fifth, Georgia Southern combined four hits with two Furman errors to put five runs on the board. With one out, Brett Pelfrey, David Richardson, and Brian Pierce delivered consecutive singles to load the bases. Matt Miller followed with a fourth straight hit, a single to right field to plate Pelfrey for the first run. A fielding error allowed two runs to score, making it 4-1. With two outs, Dowling was intentionally walked and stole second. Jeremiah Parker followed with a line drive to right field that bounced off the glove of Furman right fielder Jay Jackson for the inning's second error, allowing Dowling and Miller to cross home plate for a 6-1 advantage.

Furman countered in its half of the fifth by loading the bases with two walks and infield single, but Lairsey short-circuited the threat by inducing a double play grounder off the bat of Andrew Greene.

Georgia Southern made it 7-1 in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Pierce.

Furman put together five hits with a pair of Georgia Southern errors in the sixth to slice the Eagle advantage to 7-4. A single by Case Cassedy drove home Jay Jackson for the inning's first run. Joe Daysh followed with a base hit to left to plate Cassedy, and Spence Gibbs' doubled down the left field line to drive home Daysh and chase Lairsey. Pinch hitter Paul Ortenzo attempted to keep the inning going with a single to right field, but the throw home by Mike Economos nailed Gibbs at the plate for the final out.

In the decisive seventh, Terry doubled to lead off and Greene walked. Davidiuk smacked the first pitch from Eagle reliever A.J. Battisto back through the middle to score Terry and advance to second on the throw home. With one out, Cassedy was intentionally walked, and Joe Daysh reached on a fielder's choice RBI that plated Greene to make it 7-6. Maccani then lined a Battisto offering into the left centerfield gap to score Daysh and Davidiuk. Joey Rodgers capped the rally with a single to right field, scoring Maccani.

Furman returns to action on Wednesday when it travels to Clemson to take on the Tigers in a 7:15 p.m. game.