Basketball is over, and baseball, for now, is extinct, but Furman’s athletics program remains busy.

It took a couple games, but Furman ended Gardner-Webb’s 11-game softball winning streak at Pepsi Stadium.

The Bulldogs won the opener, 8-5, in 11 innings, and the Paladins bounced back to capture the nightcap, 9-5.

Greenville, S.C. – Senior Chloe Fabio went a combined 6-for-7 at the plate with six RBIs to help Furman earn a doubleheader split with Gardner-Webb and snap the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ 11-game winning streak on Tuesday at Pepsi Stadium.

In the three-hour marathon that was the first game in the midweek twinbill, GWU broke up a 4-4 tie with four runs in the top of the 11^th and held on in the bottom half.

With the bases loaded and one out in the 11^th, Adrienne Visintine drove in Annicka McLaughlin with a sacrifice fly to center field and Andrea Lyon followed with a two-run double to put Gardner-Webb in control. A fielding error led to a fourth run and gave GWU an 8-4 advantage.

In the bottom of the 11^th, Caitlin Goldwait reached on a bloop double to put two runners in scoring position and the Paladins added a run with a sacrifice fly from Christina McCoy, but Gardner-Webb’s Kalyn Kayne retired Fabio to close out the game.

Kayne (8-2), who came into the game in relief of Lyon, surrendered just two unearned runs on four hits over seven innings to earn the win. She walked one batter and struck out two.

Starter Emme Buzhardt (1-3) was the tough-luck loser for the Paladins. She allowed five earned runs on 12 hits over 10-2/3 innings while striking out five and walking five.

Lyon led the GWU offense, going 3/6 with two RBI while Fabio went 3/4 with a base on balls and a stolen base for the Paladins in game one.

In the nightcap, Furman exploded for five runs in the first inning and piled up 13 hits to snap its eight-game losing streak and put an end to Gardner-Webb’s winning streak.

The Paladins chased Gardner-Webb starter Elle Doolittle, who failed to record an out against the five batters she faced. Burroughs laced a 2-run single up the middle to put Furman in front, and Fabio followed several batters later with a three-run double to the base of the left field fence to give the Paladins a 5-1 lead.

Gardner-Webb (20-7) scored five runs over the first four innings, but Furman answered with an RBI single from Fabio in the bottom of the third and a run-scoring single to center off the bat of Ansley Chiang in the fourth. Burroughs worked a bases loaded walk in the fifth to push across another run and Fabio capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth to give Furman a 9-5 advantage.

 

Lauralee Scott caught the ceremonial first pitch from her dad prior to game one as they honored her mother, who recently passed away of breast cancer. Scott (4-1), who was also celebrating her birthday on Tuesday, entered the game in relief and limited GWU to one run on two hits over four innings to earn the win. The Greenwood native fanned five batters without issuing a walk.

Fabio went 3/3 with a double and five RBIs while Ashlee Lykins, Chiang, Alex Rose Molinar, and Poole each added two hits apiece for the Paladins. Burroughs finished 1/3 with three RBI.

 Emily Garcia went 2/3 with a pair of RBIs for Gardner-Webb and Doolittle (2-3) took the loss for the Runnin’ Bulldogs.

Furman (11-14) takes on Presbyterian in a 4 p.m. doubleheader on March 20.

Virginia Tech scored 10 goals in the second quarter Tuesday evening en route to a 20-9 victory over the Furman women’s lacrosse team at Paladin Stadium.

Furman (1-6) netted two of the first three goals to open the contest from Anna Roser and Sophie Shaw before the Hokies used a 7-0 run, covering over a 10-minute stretch, to break the game open leading 8-2 on Olivia Vergano’s goal with 13:11 remaining in the second quarter. Virginia Tech (6-3) outscored Furman 7-3 over the final 12:13 of the first half to lead 15-5 at intermission.

Hannah Dintino opened the second half scoring back-to-back goals within a span of 10 seconds to cut the Paladins’ deficit to 15-7 at the 12:39 mark of the third quarter. The Hokies answered with three straight goals to increase their lead to 18-7 to close out the quarter.
Both teams scored twice in the fourth quarter, with Furman getting goals from Sophia Buzelis and Paige Harman, to put the final score at 20-9.

Roser led Furman offensively with three goals while Dintino contributed three points on two goals and an assist. Shaw also scored twice.

Kayla Downey led all players with 10 points for the Hokies on seven assists and three goals. Vergano and Isa Torres each had a team-high four goals. In goal, Jocelyn Torres earned the win while Lilly Kannapell tallied six saves.

The Paladins begin a two-game road trip on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Charlotte, N.C. to take on Queens at 12 p.m.

Furman’s Adam Beucler and Callum Allison have been recognized as NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipients for the 2023-24 academic year.

The NCAA awards scholarships to 21 men and 21 women during each of the fall, winter and spring seasons.  The scholarships, worth $10,000 each, are awarded to student-athletes who intend to pursue advanced degrees in graduate or professional school. The student-athletes are evaluated on academics, athletics and community service.

A native of Hudson, Ohio, Beucler was a runner on Furman’s cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field teams. He competed at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in the spring of 2021 and ran in the NCAA Southeast Region Cross Country Championships in the fall of 2022.  

A health sciences major,

Allison, a Greenville, S.C., native and graduate of Eastside High School, recently completed his fifth season as a member of the men’s soccer program. He played in 38 career matches and logged three starts for the Paladins.

“Callum has grown up and spent his whole life around Furman University and the soccer program,” said Paladin head coach and Callum’s father, Doug Allison. “As coaches of the soccer program, we are so proud of him and all he has achieved here on the pitch and in the classroom, and how he has integrated himself so positively in the campus community.”

Allison, who sports a 4.0 GPA, earned his undergraduate degree in health sciences and is completing his master’s degree in community engaged medicine before attending medical school next fall.

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