 |
| Coach Ron Smith's Furman team had two late-inning comeback victories as part of an unbeaten week. |
Furman (4-0 last week)
(Went 1-0 against East Tennessee State; went 3-0 against Elon)
It was a mixed bag for off the field for Furman this week. Pitching coach Mike Ranson resigned without finishing out the season - a very rare occurrence on the college level. Volunteer assistant coach Landon Powell was named the next head coach at North Greenville.
But it was all good on the field. The Paladins got a walk-off three-run home run from Chris Ohmstede to beat East Tennessee State Wednesday night, then swept Elon over the weekend in Southern Conference play to earn PalmettoStateBaseball.com team of the week recognition for May 5-11
The Paladins got five innings of one-hit pitching from Matt Solter in the series opener on Friday, but rain caused suspension of play until Saturday. Furman resumed play with a 4-0 lead, but the Phoenix rallied within one in the sixth inning. The Paladins respond in power fashion, scoring five runs in the sixth, two in the seventh and three in the eighth to win, 14-3.
Furman took a 5-0 lead in Saturday's scheduled game, then withstood some exciting moments late for a 9-7 win.
Sunday featured a game suitable to make a mother proud on her day. Elon led 6-1 after five innings and 7-3 after 7 1/2.
The Paladins' first five batters reached base in the eighth, then Hunter Burton hit a base-loaded triple to cap a six-run inning to give Furman a 9-7 lead. Alex Abrams closed out the Phoenix in the ninth to
cap Furman's first three-game sweep in conference play since 2012.
Furman, Wofford and Appalachian State enter the final weekend of conference play in a three-way tie for sixth place at 10-13. Elon (12-15) is in fifth place by percentage points.
The Paladins close the regular season at Appalachian State, while Wofford plays host to Samford. Two wins over the Mountaineers and two Wofford losses to Samford would give Furman fifth place over Elon by a half-game.
Also considered
* Charleston Southern (4-0, clinched first winning season since 1996)
* College of Charleston (3-1, clinched first-round bye for CAA Tournament)
* Lander (3-0, won Peach Belt Conference Tournament)
* South Carolina (4-0)
* USC Sumter (3-1, won NJCAA Region 10 Tournament)
Previous winners
May 4: Charleston Southern
April 27: Lander
April 20: Newberry
April 13: USC Sumter
April 6: Spartanburg Methodist
March 30: Clemson
March 23: Claflin
March 16: Lander
March 9: USC Lancaster
March 2: South Carolina
Feb. 23: College of Charleston
No comments:
Post a Comment