GREENVILLE, S.C. – The No. 8 seed Furman Paladins scored four runs in the second inning and held on late to upset the No. 4 seed Western Carolina Catamounts, 7-6, in an elimination game at the 2009 Southern Conference Baseball Championship at Fluor Field.
Furman (24-30) advances to face No. 2 seed Georgia Southern at 1 p.m. Saturday. Western Carolina ends the regular season at 35-22.
Furman opened the scoring in the second inning by plating four runs. The Paladins scored two runs and loaded the bases before the first out. Will Miller reached on a fielding error by the second baseman, Ross Heffley, scoring Matt Hemingway. Reese Wade scored on a single by J.B. Jenkins. Connor Lind recorded a sacrifice fly, plating Campbell Lewis. The final run of the inning came on a Marcus Rose single to center field, scoring Miller.
Trailing 7-3 the Catamounts made a rally in the top of the ninth scoring three runs off Furman reliever Nick Karow. Dylan de Graaf scored on a passed ball before Matt Johns scored on a Mitchell Hatley ground ball. WCU’s final run came when Nick Liles singled, scoring J.C. Lyons. However, Karow forced a Trevor Collias pop up to end the game.
Rose led the Paladins offense, going 2-for-4 with a double, three stolen bases and an RBI. Wade was 4-for-4 with an RBI. Seven different Paladins recorded an RBI in the game.
In a losing effort, Nick Liles was 3-for-5 with an RBI for WCU. Rembert Rollison was 2-for-4 with a home run and a RBI.
Goldsberry (4-6) picked up the win, yielding three hits and a run in four innings of work, while fanning five. The Catamounts’ Mike Tavernier (7-6) suffered the loss after allowing six runs on eight hits in 3.2 innings of work.
After Furman jumped out to a 4-0 lead, Western Carolina got on the board in the top of the third inning when Rollison scored on a passed ball from Furman pitcher J.P. Goldsberry.
The Paladins increased their lead to 6-1 in the fourth inning when Rose scored on a Justin Holloway single down the right field line. Later in the inning, Wade singled up the middle scoring Holloway.
Each team scored a run in the sixth. The Catamounts got on the board when a Brent Greer sacrifice fly scored Liles. Furman’s Rose tallied another run on a Brian Harrison sacrifice fly, making the score 7-2 entering the seventh.
The Catamounts cut the lead to four in the eighth inning on a Rollison solo shot over the left center field fence.
In Saturday's 9am opening game, The Citadel tries handing top-seed Elon its first loss of the tournament.
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