Furman is hustling and bustling as best it can without a baseball team. That’s old news, of course, but hope springs.

The longest shot of the month is in Clinton, where the Presbyterian College women’s basketball team won the Big South tournament and is now preparing for an NCAA game against Sacred Heart in Columbia on Wednesday, where the top-ranked Gamecocks await the winner.

It’s been a wonderful story for Alaura Sharp and her Blue Hose.

Then it gets weird.

The Presbyterian men (14-18) have “accepted” a bid to play in the Ro CBI, where the Blue Hose are to play Montana (23-12) at Daytona Beach (Fla.) Center and Sunday at 1 p.m.

It’s on pay-per-view.

Now, what say, let’s get purple.

Furman sophomore Clark Akers, he of Nashville, Tenn., stood fifth after an opening-round 69 at the General Hackler Championship in Myrtle Beach.

Akers, who is playing as an individual, teed off on No. 10 and birdied Nos. 12 and 16 but doubled 18 to turn at even par.  He added a birdie on No. 4 then eagled the par-5 No. 8 to finish the day at 3-under.  He sits two strokes back of leaders John Houk (-5) of Chattanooga and Walker Isley (-5) of UNC Wilmington, who each carded a 67 in round one.  

Sophomore Harris Barth (-1) was tied for 11th. Junior Will Morlan (+1) posted a 1-over 73 with birdies on No. 4 and no. 17 to tie for 22^nd.

No. 33 Chattanooga (-2) and 48th-ranked Louisville (-2) are tied for the team lead.  No. 15 East Tennessee State (-1) is one stroke behind the leaders in third place, while College of Charleston (E) and UNC Wilmington (E) are tied for fourth.  Liberty (+2) sits in fifth, followed by Furman (+4), which is in seventh place in the 14-team field.

Furman trounced Samford, 6-1, to open the Southern Conference women’s season Sunday at Mickel Tennis Center. 

The Paladins (5-10, 1-0 SoCon) won a close doubles point to start the match.  Junior Grace Thomas and freshman Maeve Thornton blew past Margaret Jaraczewski and Lauren Waddles, 6-2, at flight three, but the top two matches were neck and neck. Juniors Jess Dawson and Sara Snyder claimed the final two games to hold off Grace Keller and Emily Surcey, 7-5, at flight two to clinch the point, before freshman Macy Hitchcock and junior Ellie Schulson came from behind for a 7-6 (4) tiebreaker win versus Alexis Lopez and Noelle Mauro.

In singles play, Furman won five matches, four in straight sets.  Snyder eked out a 6-3, 6-7 (4), 1-0 (12-10) victory over Lopez in the top-seeded contest, and Thornton made quick work of Surcey, 6-1, 6-1, at number two.  Thomas beat Mauro, 6-2, 6-3, at flight four, and Hitchcock topped Jaraczewski, 6-3, 6-4, at flight five.  At number six, junior Marissa Pennings joined the Paladin lineup, where she recorded a 7-5, 6-3 advantage over Meredith Taylor.  

Samford (3-10, 0-2) scored at flight three, where Ally Hayduk entered the lineup and came from behind to defeat Schulson, 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8).  

Furman hosts Wofford Wednesday at 3 p.m. in the battle for the Pinson Cup.  Bobby and Dixie Pinson, beloved friends of both the Furman and Wofford programs, have given the trophy and a generous donation in honor of the rivalry between the two schools.  The trophy stays with the winning school until the winner of the next season’s match is determined, and the Paladins have been awarded the trophy each year since its inception in 2005.

Samford turned the tables on the Furman men, 5-2, in Homewood, Ala.

Samford improves to 10-4 on the season and 3-0 in conference play. With the loss, Furman drops to 7-9 overall and 1-1 in the SoCon.
The Paladins dropped two of the three doubles matches as the Bulldogs claimed the opening point with wins at Nos. 1 and 2. In the top match, Maxwell Giddens and Sandeep Mohandoss held off Thomas Kennedy and Elijah Poritzky in a tiebreaker, 7-6(5). Santiago Arredondo and Maksim Bogdanovich topped Ben Cahill and Emil Westling, 6-2.

Playing in the No. 3 match, Cole Burnam and Alex Han held off Will Gray and Darcy Nicholls in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (5), to secure their second straight victory and seventh of the season.
Samford captured four singles wins in the six matches to record the 5-2 victory. The Bulldogs registered wins at Nos. 2, 4, 5, and 6.

Furman picked up straight-set wins from Poritzky at No. 1 and Westling at No. 3. Poritzky collected his fourth win of the year with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Giddens. Westling provided his team leading eighth triumph after topping Nicholls, 7-5, 7-6 (3).
The Paladins conclude their seven-match road trip on Friday against Tennessee Tech at 1 p.m.

While in the area, Furman fell, 4-1, to the UAB Blazers at Hoover Met Tennis Center.
The Blazers (8-8) opened the match by capturing the doubles point following wins at Nos. 1 and 2. Parker Bradbary and Georgios Nouchakis, playing at the No. 1 spot, topped Thomas Kennedy and Elijah Poritzky, 6-1, while Carlos Gimenez Perez and Juan Pablo Valdez added a 7-5 victory over Ben Cahill and Emil Westling.

Cole Burnam and Alex Han picked up their sixth win of the season after defeating Kaustubh Holcomb and Chase Parker, 6-4, in the No. 3 match.
UAB followed in singles play, winning three of the four completed matches.
Walker Allen got the Paladins on the board at No. 5 with his straight-set win versus Iker Dellien, 6-3, 6-4. The win was Allen’s sixth of the year, tying him for second most on the team.
Lacrosse ralled from behind to edge Queens, 13-11, at Dickson Field in Charlotte, N.C.

Furman (2-6) snapped a five-game losing streak. Queens is 5-4.
The Paladins outscored the Royals 3-1 over the game’s final five minutes with Shaw netting two of the goals during a 2:26 stretch. Elise Grissett tied the score at 10-10 with 9:10 left in the contest before Shaw’s second goal put Furman back in front, 11-10, at the 4:54 mark. After Jordan Tandler evened the score for Queens (N.C.) at 11-11 with four minutes remaining, the Paladins held the hosts without a goal the rest of the game. Shaw’s game-winner with 2:28 to go put Furman ahead, 12-11, and Paige Harman sealed the victory on her goal with 1:33 remaining.
The Paladins close out non-conference play on Tuesday, traveling to Gainesville, Fla., for a noon opening draw at 13^th-ranked Florida.

Senior Chloe Fabio is Southern Conference Player of the Week and junior Lauralee Scott is tabbed as the league’s pitcher of the week.

Fabio, the Paladins’ third baseman from Pittsburgh, Pa., went 6/7 with six RBIs in last Tuesday’s doubleheader split versus Gardner-Webb at Pepsi Stadium.

Scott succeeded in the circle on an emotional day last Tuesday at Pepsi Stadium. Playing on Breast Cancer Awareness Day, Scott caught the ceremonial first pitch from her dad prior to the twinbill as the duo celebrated the memory of her mother, who lost her battle with cancer less than three months ago. Scott came on in relief in the second game of the day and limited Gardner-Webb to just a run on two hits over four innings to earn the victory and improve to 4-1 in the circle. The Greenwood native and Emerald High School product fanned five batters over four innings without allowing a walk.

The Paladins (11-14), idle this past weekend, return to action on Wednesday when they host the Presbyterian Blue Hose for a 4 p.m. doubleheader at Pepsi Stadium.

Anna Morgan is Southern Conference Women’s Golf Athlete of the Month for February.  

The senior from Spartanburg won the Lady Puerto Rico Classic in Rio Grande, P.R., after posting rounds of 68-71-67 for a tournament score of 206 (-10). The victory marked the seventh of her career, extending her program record.

Morgan went on to finish third at the 2024 Chevron Classic with an 11-under par 205, a shot behind co-champions Isabel Sy (-12) of Illinois and Nicha Kanpai (-12) of Maryland.

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