Defending Champion Furman To Open SoCon Tournament Play Wednesday Against Western Carolina

May 23, 2006

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The defending Southern Conference Tournament champion Furman Paladins begin their title defense Wednesday when they take on the Western Carolina Catamounts in 2006 SoCon Tournament first round action at Charleston's Joseph P. Riley Park.

First pitch is set for 10:00 a.m., and the contest, as with all Paladin SoCon Tournament baseball games, will be broadcast by Furman flagship radio station WGOG 96.3 FM and over the internet at yahoo.com. Chuck Hussion, the "Voice of the Paladins" will call the play-by-play, and joining him with color commentary and analysis will be former Paladin baseball great Clint Hill and Jonathan Brown.

Furman (32-21, 16-11 SoCon) carries the No. 3 seed into the tournament against No. 6 seed Western Carolina (31-25, 14-13 SoCon). The Paladins, a consensus SoCon preseason No. 7 pick by league coaches and sports information directors, took two of three games from the Catamounts last weekend in Cullowhee, N.C., to nail down a third place SoCon regular season finish -- the program's best since 2001 and only the third, third place regular season finish since 1977. Furman has claimed five of the last six meetings against Western Carolina, and head coach Ron Smith's Paladins' 32 victories this spring matches the school single season record for wins set in 2003.

The winner of the Furman-Western Carolina game will play the winner of the College of Charleston and UNC Greensboro/Wofford game at 4:00 p.m. Thursday while the loser will play the loser of the aforementioned College of Charleston and UNC Greensboro/Wofford contest on Thursday at 10:00 a.m.

Furman is expected to throw sophomore righthander Mason Smith (3-3, 3.86 ERA) against Western Carolina. Smith proved to be the Paladins' most effective starter in league play this year, compiling a 2-2 record and 1.74 ERA. Opponents have batted just .243 against him this season.

The Paladins head into tournament play as the SoCon's top hitting team with a .329 average and have hit a school season record 51 home runs this year. Senior first baseman Case Cassedy tops the Paladin offense with a .380 average and conference leading 23 doubles to go along with a team leading 58 RBI. Senior shortstop A.J. Davidiuk is batting .372 with a team high 11 home runs and 47 RBI, and Will Stembridge, a junior outfielder/designated hitter is hitting at a .371 clip.

Furman junior righthander Nick Hollstegge (1-1, 2.19 ERA) heads up a quality Furman bullpen with a school record 11 saves this year. Last year he garnered SoCon Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors after notching saves in each of the Paladins' four tournament wins. Furman, which needed a three-game sweep at Davidson on the final weekend of the 2005 regular season to secure the league's last remaining tournament berth, became the first No. 8 seed in conference history to win the championship and NCAA Tournament berth by defeating No. 1 seed College of Charleston (9-7), No. 4 seed Elon (6-3), and No. 2 seed Georgia Southern twice (4-1 and 5-4).

Fans can follow game action via live stats, available through the Southern Conference website at www.soconsports.com.