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Mackey, Murray Pitch Furman to Sweep Of UNC Greensboro 2-0, 3-1
March 24, 2007
Greenville, S.C. - Freshman Lana Mackey tossed a one-hit shutout in game one and Blake Murray fanned nine Spartans in game two to lead Furman to a 2-0, 3-1 sweep against UNC Greensboro on the opening day of Southern Conference softball play for both schools Saturday at Pepsi Stadium.
Furman wasted little time in getting the only run it would need in game one. Amber Kiser led off the bottom of the first with a bunt single and moved to second on an Abby Robertson sacrifice. Stephanie Cushing drove in the game's first run with a single up the middle.
With the Lady Paladins holding on to the 1-0 lead in the bottom half of the sixth, Kiser opened the frame with a solo home run to center field to up the lead to 2-0. Mackey retired the Spartans in order in the seventh to notch her first career shutout.
The freshman surrendered just a sixth inning single by Jennifer Bonilla while walking four and fanning four to improve to 6-6 on the season. Kiser led Furman at the plate going 2-for-3 with two runs.
Vanessa Oakes suffered the loss to fall to 7-4. Oakes allowed two runs on four hits in six innings of work. She notched two strike outs and did not issue a walk.
In game two, Furman exploded for three runs in the bottom of the sixth and Murray stranded nine Spartan runners to give the Lady Paladins a 3-1 victory.
Tied 0-0, Danielle Franklin opened the Furman half of the six with a shot to the right-centerfield gap. Lyndsey Wilson could not come up with the catch on a sliding effort as Franklin slid into third with a triple. Murray followed with a line drive to center that Wilson attempted to dive and catch, but the ball hopped past her allowing the Furman pitcher to reach on an RBI triple.
Kiser doubled the lead with a single down the leftfield line to plate Murray and give Furman a 2-0 lead. After starter Amber Harrell was lifted in favor of Hannah Angel, Robertson laid down a sacrifice and Cushing grounded out to move Kiser to third. Megan Jaudon delivered a two-out single up the middle to drive in Furman's third run of the inning.
Abdriane Audley got the Spartans on the board with a two-out RBI single in the seventh, but Murray got Kara Clouser to bounce out to shortstop to end the game. Murray stranded UNCG runners in every inning except for one while improving to 6-7 in the circle. The righthander, recorded her first seven outs via the strikeout, limited the Spartans to one run on eight hits while allowing two bases on balls.
Kiser and Jaudon each collected two hits for the Lady Paladins. Audley registered three safeties and Bonilla banged out two hits for UNC Greensboro.
The sweep improves Furman to 12-14-1 overall and 2-0 in SoCon play. UNCG falls to 17-20 overall and 0-2 in the league.
The Lady Paladins and Spartans conclude their three-game set Sunday at Pepsi Stadium. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.
