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Gardner-Webb Rallies Past Furman, 9-8
April 25, 2007
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. -- Jay McConnell's two-out double off the right center field fence in the bottom of the ninth inning drove home the winning run and liftted Gardner-Webb to a 9-8 win over Furman in baseball action Wednesday afternoon.
The win was the third in a row for Gardner-Webb (17-27) and the third defeat in the last four games for Furman (12-30).
Gardner-Webb tied the game at 8-8 on an RBI bunt single by Matt Rizzuto, two batters before McConnell stepped to the plate. McConnel worked a 2-0 count against Paladin reliever Ian Parry, fouled off a pitch, and then lined a 2-1 offering to the opposite field to score Ty Boyles for the game winner.
Furman (13-28) saw an early 6-1 lead evaporate in the middle and late innings. The Paladins went on top early, loading the bases with a walk to leadoff man Connor Lind, a bunt single by Marcus Rose, and a looping hit to left by Bobby Hubbard in the top of the first.
GWU starter Devin Campbell recovered to get a pop up for the first out, but the Paladins got a high chopper from Tony Maccani to plate Lind on a groundout for a 1-0 lead. Campbell seemed to have worked his way out of the inning with another fly ball to center, but the Bulldogs centerfielder J. Ahearn dropped the ball and saw it scoot past, allowing two runs to score for a 3-0 lead.
Gardner-Webb got on the board in the second, using a double from Nate MacDonald and a Justin Loyd sacrifice fly to trim the lead to 3-1.
The score remained 3-1 until the fifth, when Campbell got into further trouble. Three-straight one-out hits, including a three-run home run off the bat of Stembridge, pushed the Paladins lead to 6-1.
Gardner-Webb got a two-run double from Daniel Cooke and an RBI single from Jeremiah Lokken in the fifth to trim the lead to 6-4, but Furman answered with an RBI single from Jay Jackson to push its lead back to three runs, 7-4, in the sixth.
Gardner-Webb responded with two runs in the bottom of the sixth, trimming the lead to 7-6, and tied the score on an two-out RBI single by Rizzuto in the seventh.
In the eighth, Furman's Marcus Rose skied a pop fly to shallow left that two GWU fielders apparently lost against the backdrop of the clouds, allowing Rose to reach second With two outs, Jackson hit a jam shot that fell softly through the right side for an 8-7 Furman advantage.
After Cooke flied out to deep center leading off the Bulldog ninth, Lokken came through with a towering double to center. A single by MacDonald got through the left side, moving Lokken to third.
Rizzuto then pushed a bunt past Parry and outran the defense, allowing Lokken to tie the game. A fielder's choice grounder by pinch hitter Joey Testa erased Rizzuto, but left runners at the corner for McConnell, who delivered the game winning double.
MacDonald (3-2) picked up the pitching win in relief, allowing one hit in the top of the ninth.
Parry (3-3) took the loss after allowing six hits and two earned runs in 1 2/3 innings.
Furman returns to action on Friday when it opens a three-game Southern Conference home series against Western Carolina beginning at 7:00 p.m.
