Furman (15-15, 1-3) broke a four-all tie with eight runs in the eighth inning, then held on for a 12-9 win over first-place Mercer (25-7, 5-2) in Macon Friday night for the Paladins' first Southern Conference win of the season.
Bret Huebner gave the Paladins the lead with a squeeze bunt to score David Webel. Furman used seven hits and a Bears error during the outburst. Jake Crawford had a three-run homer.
Mercer scored five runs in the eighth and got the potential tying run to bat in the ninth before Tyler Kimbrell struck out reigning SoCon player of the month Trey Truitt to end the game.
Jared Mihalik homered for the second consecutive game for Furman, He, Huebner and Ben Anderson had three hits apiece as the Paladins totaled 16 hits.
Game 2 is set for 6 p.m. Saturday.
Elsewhere:
* Jared Williams' walk-off home run gave North Greenville (31-5, 15-2) a 3-2 win over Mount Olive (25-10-1, 13-4) and a sweep of a Conference Carolinas doubleheader matching league co-leaders coming into the day. Tucker Burgess struck out 12 in a complete-game effort at North Greenville won the opener, 7-3. The Crusaders scored four runs in the eighth to take the lead. NGU takes a 14-game winning streak into Saturday's series finale.
* Wofford (22-10) swept a nonconference doubleheader at UNC Wilmington (19-11), winning the opener 13-1 and Game 2 5-4. Adam Scott struck out seven batters in seven innings in the opener. Reed Massey had three of the Terriers' 12 hits In Game 2, Colin Davis had a two-run homer and Andrew Orzel singled, tripled and drove in a run. The teams take Saturday off because of rain worries before completing the series.
* Evan Sisk struck out 13 in 7 2/3 innings as College Charleston (23-9, 5-2) opened a Colonial Athletic Association home series with James Madison (15-13, 2-5) with a 6-4 victory.
* Eleven walks by South Carolina (17-13, 4-6) pitchers and 13 hits by Kentucky (21-9, 4-6) were the recipe for a 14-1 romp by the Wildcats in their SEC series opener. Gamecocks starter Adam Hill walked seven in three innings and left trailing, 7-0. That was plenty for Wildcats starter, Sean Hjelle, who scattered five hits and struck out eight in seven innings. Matt Williams singled in the only USC run.
* South Alabama (17-11, 7-2) pulled within a half-game of Coastal Carolina (21-11, 8-2) in the Sun Belt Conference East Division standings with an 11-6 victory to open their series at Springs Brooks Stadium. Seth Lancaster hit two homers and drove in five runs for Coastal.
* Chase Allen became Limestone's career home-run leader as the Saints (16-20, 8-9) swept a Conference Carolinas twinbill from Southern Wesleyan (14-26, 3-17) by scores of 11-2 and 11-1. Allen connected twice in the opener, giving him 40 for his career.
* Presbyterian (11-21, 5-5) rapped out 15 hits in a 12-7 victory at UNC Asheville (8-21, 4-6) in the opener of a Big South Conference series in the Land of the Sky. A.J. Priaulx and Jonathan White drove in three runs apiece for the Blue Hose.
* USC Aiken ((22-13, 13-6) began and ended with a flourish in a 14-4 win over Augusta (11-25. 7-18) in the opener of a Peach Belt Conference series matching close neighors. Conner Durden had four hits, Brady O'Neil added three and Phillip Watcher drove in five runs for the Pacers, who led 6-0 after 1 1/2 innings and scored eight runs over the final three at-bats.
* Thomas Lopez had three hits and drove in three runs as Coker (12-20, 2-17) held off Lincoln Memorial (23-15, 9-10) by a 10-7 count to open their South Atlantic Conference series. The teams have moved their doubleheader from Saturday to 1 p.m. Sunday
* Chandler Castleberry doubled and homered twice for Anderson (14-22, 7-12) in a 7-3 victory over first-place Wingate (29-10, 13-6) to open their South Atlantic Conference series at Anderson Memorial Stadium.
* Claflin (11-23, 7-3) and Albany State (16-14, 7-4) split an SIAC twinbill at Mirmow Field in Orangeburg. Johnathan Parnell's three-run homer in the eighth inning of the opener gave the Panthers a walk-off 5-2 victory. The visiting Rams won Game 2, 8-7.
* Zach Carter had two hits and drove in four runs to help Erskine (23-16, 9-7) snap a seven-game losing streak with a 9-7 win over King (23-13, 10-9) in Game 2 of a Conference Carolinas doubleheader. The Fleet dropped the opener, 4-3. when the Tornado scored a run in the top of the ninth.
* Kelvin Brito drove in five runs for USC Beaufort (15-21) in a 10-5 win over St. Joseph College of Vermont to open a nonconference doubleheader. The Sand Sharks lost the second game, 3-1.
* Winthrop (14-17, 7-3) lost a Big South Conference series opener at Gardner-Webb, 9-6. The Eagles scored five runs in the fifth to tie the score at 6-6, but the Bulldogs scored the final three runs. Tyler Halstead singled, doubled and drove in two runs for Winthrop.
* Catawba (20-18, 14-5) took advantage of Wingate's loss to Anderson to move into first place in the SAC with an 18-12 win over Newberry (20-16, 11-8). Danton Hyman had three hits for Newberry, extending his hitting streak to 12 games.
* Clemson's scheduled ACC series opener at Notre Dame was postponed until Sunday because of rain.
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