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Georgia Southern Downs Furman In Series Finale, 3-0
April 1, 2007
Statesboro, Ga. - A.J. Street tossed a complete-game shutout and Heather Smith drove in two runs to lead Georgia Southern to a 3-0 victory and three-game series sweep of Furman Sunday afternoon at Eagle Field.
Georgia Southern opened the scoring in the bottom of the third. Lindsey Hopkins delivered a leadoff single and stole second to start the frame. Heather Smith then singled down the left field line to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. After a wild pitch and base on balls to Jenny Side, Vanessa Williams entered the game in relief of Lana Mackey and retired three straight batters to leave runners stranded at the corners.
Smith added to the Eagle lead an inning later. Michelle Beasley singled with one out and moved to second when Elizabeth Branan was hit by a pitch. Smith then lined a two-out single to right to give the Eagles a 2-0 advantage.
Georgia Southern upped the lead to 3-0 in the fifth. After a pair of singles and a sacrifice bunt, Katie Smith laced a double to left to plate pinch runner Aubrey Tweatt.
Street (5-4) limited Furman to only three hits to notch the shutout. Smith and Robyne Saliga each collected two hits for the Eagles.
Lana Mackey suffered the loss for the Lady Paladins to fall to 6-8. She allowed one run on three hits in two-plus innings of work. Vanessa Williams and Blake Murray each allowed one run in two innings of relief.
The loss marks Furman's 12th straight defeat against Georgia Southern dating back to 2004. After allowing a pair of runs in the first three innings of the series, Georgia Southern pitchers held Furman scoreless for 20 consecutive innings.
The Eagles improve to 17-19 overall and 4-2 in the Southern Conference while Furman dips to 12-18-1 overall and 2-4 in league play.
Furman returns home to host 24th-ranked Georgia Tech in a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday at 2 p.m. at Pepsi Stadium.
