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Furman Softball Falls to Kennesaw State 10-2 at Charleston Southern Invitational
March 5, 2006
Summerville, S.C. - Jen Nolan's grand slam in the fourth inning pushed Kennesaw State to a 10-2 win over Furman in the semifinals of the Charleston Southern Invitational softball tournament on Sunday afternoon.
Lisa Lamb earned the win for the Owls, pitching 2.2 innings of relief and allowed just one hit. Jessica Mathis absorbed the loss for Furman, allowing four runs on six hits in two innings of work.
Kennesaw State got on the board in the bottom half of the first inning on Cambria McKay's RBI single to left field.
The Owls extended their lead in the second inning with three more runs. A walk and back-to-back singles loaded the bases before a sacrifice fly plated the first run of the frame. Lynn Parmer fielded a ground ball at second on the next play and fired home to cut off the run, but Jamie KeKaualua slid under the tag of catcher Abby Robertson. A single up the middle scored the third run of the inning for Kennesaw State.
Furman cut the lead in half, with two runs in the top of the third inning. Mathis doubled down the left field line, and scored on Stephanie Cushing's RBI single up the middle. Amber Nelsen continued her hot hitting by lacing an RBI double to the gap in left center field to score Cushing.
With one out in the fourth inning, Erica Nesselroad, who was on in relief of Mathis, loaded the bases with a single and two walks. Nesselroad got McKay to strike out, and had an 0-2 count on Nolan before the third baseman hit the next pitch to deep center field. The Owls added two more unearned runs to finish the scoring.
Nelsen finished the weekend batting 12-for-21 (.571) with three doubles, two homeruns, and nine RBIs in seven games.
With the loss, Furman falls to 10-10 on the season. The Lady Paladins are back in action on Tuesday as they play host to Charleston Southern in a doubleheader that starts at 2 p.m.
Furman Defeats Brown 8-3 in Quarterfinals of Charleston Southern Invitational
Lady Paladins to face Kennesaw State in semifinals
Summerville, S.C. - Amber Kiser batted 4-for-4, and Stephanie Cushing knocked in four runs as Furman defeated Brown 8-3 in the quarterfinals of the Charleston Southern Invitational on Sunday morning.
Erica Nesselroad (2-0) picked up the win for Furman, her second victory in as many days. The senior worked five innings, and allowed just one run on three hits.
Heather Garrison took the loss for Brown after allowing eight runs (five earned) on ten hits.
Brown struck in the top of the first inning as Amy Baxter hit a homerun to center field. Kiser tracked the ball down and caught it at the wall, but flipped over the temporary fencing, resulting in the homerun.
Furman evened the score in the bottom half of the frame. Kiser reached on an infield hit, and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Joni Lockridge. Cushing grounded out to plate Kiser and knot the score at one apiece.
The Lady Paladins extended the lead in the third inning as a one-out bunt single by Jessica Mathis started the Furman rally. Kiser and Lockridge followed with infield singles of their own to load the bases. Cushing blasted a triple to right-center to knock in all three baserunners.
Furman tacked on four more runs in the fifth inning to push the lead to 8-1. Amber Nelsen singled to right field and Danielle Franklin reached on a fielding error. Megan Jaudon hit into a fielder's choice, but Nelsen beat the throw at third base. Abby Robertson laid down a perfect sqeeze bunt to score Nelsen, and then beat out the throw for a single. Franklin scored on a wild pitch, and Blake Murray's sacrifice fly plated Jaudon, and Mathis' infield single scored Robertson to complete the scoring for the Lady Paladins.
Brown added two runs in the sixth inning on a two-run homerun to center by Linnea Anderson.
With the win, Furman improves to 10-9 on the season. The Lady Paladins advance in tournament play to face Kennesaw State in the semifinals of the Charleston Southern Invitational on Sunday afternoon.
