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Furman Downs Fourth Seed Elon 6-3
May 26, 2005
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The eighth-seeded Furman Paladins advanced to the final of the winners' bracket with a 6-3 upset over fourth-seeded Elon in the second round of the 2005 Southern Conference Baseball Championship Thursday evening at Riley Park in Charleston, S.C.
Case Cassedy fueled the offense for Furman going 3-for-4 with a two-run double.
The Paladins, who were swept in three regular season games by the Phoenix, have now won five straight to improve to 28-27. Elon falls to 32-24.
"We played a very solid game against a quality opponent, and that's what we had to have to win," said Furman head coach Ron Smith, whose team opened tournament play on Wednesday with a 9-7 win over top-seed College of Charleston. "I thought our defense was outstanding, especially early in the game, and we fed off that, got some strong work again from our bullpen, and some timely hits."
Elon collected a pair of hits in the first inning to put runners at first and third before Matthew Betstill speared a line drive off the bat of Evan Erickson and doubled off Chris Price at first base to end the threat.
In the second inning Furman's defense again short-circuited the Phoenix when first baseman Case Cassedy threw out Drew Davis at home plate for the inning's first out, and catcher Tony Maccani gunned out Matt Stocco at third base on a double steal attempt. Ryan Radford then grounded out to end the inning.
Furman got on the board first in the bottom of the second, moving two runners across, taking the early 2-0 lead. Betsill got things going with a double to left center. A.J. Davidiuk moved Betsill to third on a single to right field. Maccani was hit by a pitch to load the bases before Joe Daysh plated Betsill with a sacrifice fly to center field. Nick Wajda then reached on an error to score Davidiuk.
Elon plated two runners in the top of the third to knot the game up at 2-2. Adam Weaver led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a single by Gary Morris. Weaver and Morris both moved up on a balk to put runners on second and third. After a walk by Chris Price, Evan Erickson brought home Weaver and Morris on a single to left field.
Furman jumped back on top in the bottom of the fifth to take a 4-2 lead. With one out, Andrew Greene reached on a single and moved to second on a stolen base. Two batters later, Sam McLain brought in Greene with a two-run homer to right, his fourth of the season.
In the top of the six, Elon moved one runner across to cut the lead to 4-3. Matt Hill reached on a fielder's choice and stole second. Later that inning, Weaver singled to score Hill.
Furman tacked on two in the bottom of the seventh to extend the lead to 6-3. Nick Wadja led the inning off with a single down the right field line. Ben Terry moved Wajda over to second on a bunt single. Greene reached on a fielder's choice, moving Terry to second, as Wadja was thrown out at third. Case Cassedy cleared the bases with a two RBI double down the right field line.
Freshman righthander Ben Hunter picked up the win for Furman, improving to 6-3 after working six innings and yielding 10 hits while striking out four and walking three.
Nick Hollstegge, the reigning SoCon Pitcher-of-the-Week making his sixth consecutive appearance, worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his fifth save.
Lance Cole took the loss for Elon, falling to 7-3.
Furman will play the winner of the Georgia Southern-Western Carolina game on Friday, May 27 at 4:30 p.m.
