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Furman Edges Davidson 5-4 To Complete Series Sweep, Earn SoCon Tournament Bid
May 22, 2005
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- The visiting Furman Paladins completed a three-game sweep of the Davidson Wildcats with a well-played, 5-4 victory at Wilson Field on Sunday afternoon.
With the win, Furman (26-27, 13-16 Southern Conference) advances to the SoCon Tournament that begins on Wednesday in Charleston, S.C. and eliminates Davidson (26-24, 13-17) from qualifying for the tournament with the loss.
"I'm really happy for our players and the outstanding performance they turned in over three pressure-packed games," said Furman head coach Ron Smith. "We came into the weekend needing all three games to qualify for the tournament, and we got them. We hope to carry this momentum to Charleston."
The series sweep was the first by the Paladins over the Wildcats since 1984.
Furman jumped out to a 3-0 lead against Wildcat hurler Matt Meade (4-4) in the top of the third. Nick Wajda singled to start the inning, and Ben Terry singled and went to second when Davidson tried to throw out Wajda at third. Andrew Greene hit a slow roller to second to score the first run, and Case Cassedy ripped a ground-rule double for the second. After moving over the third on a grounder to first, Cassedy raced home on a wild pitch.
But Davidson quickly responded in its half. Sam Navarro hit a lead-off single and Andrew Musashe ripped a two-run homer to left-center, his ninth of the year. Ronnie Shore followed with a double into the left-field corner, and one out later Eli Benefeld hit a bloop single to right to bring him home and tie the score at three.
In the top of the fifth, the Paladins took the lead for good. Greene drew a walk from Meade -- the first time in 13 starts that Meade had walked two batters in one game -- and Cassedy singled him to third. Brant West came on to pitch, and Sam McLain got an RBI when Alden Crissey made a terrific diving stop of his grounder wide of first, but could only step on the bag for an out as Greene scampered home.
Furman got a much-needed insurance run in the eighth. McLain singled off reliever Justin Hartanov, the fifth time the Paladins got the lead-off hitter on base in the game. Davidson head coach Dick Cooke summoned who pitched seven innings on Friday night, from the bullpen and pinch runner Joey Rodgers stole second and advanced to third on a bunt by Matthew Betsill. A.J. Davidiuk followed with a line single to left to make the score 5-3.
With two outs in the bottom half of the eighth, Rob Wilson ripped his second home run of the season to cut the deficit to one again, but Nick Holstegge came on and pitched the final 1 1/3 innings -- including a 1-2-3 ninth -- to earn his third save of the year.
Matt Klinker (2-2) picked up the win with 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of starter Ryan Hodinka, who allowed three runs in 4 2/3 innings on nine hits and two walks.
Cassedy led the 12-hit Paladin attack by going 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles, a run and an RBI. Terry, Davidiuk and Joe Daysh each pitched in with a pair of hits.
Crissey, making his first start in more than a month, had four of the Wildcats' 13 hits.
Furman goes on as the eighth seed to play 20th-ranked College of Charleston in the opening round on Wednesday at approximately 1 p.m.
