Have you noticed that height has been replaced by length in the lexicon of basketball broadcasters?

Players began positioning themselves at the elbows of the lane.

The broadcasters are always developing new wrinkles. Writers, too, I suppose, but since we make use of a backspace button, it diversifies language a bit. We get to think, I already used that word.

Cliches rise, and cliches fall. Like the sun.

My daily goal is to get everything done by the end of the day, though it typically takes until the wee hours.

Maybe I’ll make something up Monday, when the schedules are light. It’s April Fool’s Day. I was born a week beyond foolishness. My earliest memory is my father leading me around the yard on a triceratops.

I’m old.

The league-leading Spartans (22-14, 6-0 SoCon) grabbed the lead in the bottom of the third inning. 

Saturday’s victory improved the league-leading Spartans to 22-14 overall and 6-0 in the SoCon while Furman slipped to 17-18 overall and 3-3 in the conference.

Furman (17-18, 3-3) had opened the scoring in the top of the first inning when two errors and a bunt single from Kiley Perry loaded the bases with no one out. Sylvia Burroughs reached on a fielder’s choice to second base to drive in the game’s first run, but UNCG’s Maddie Spell retired the next two batters to limit the damage.

UNC Greensboro held Furman scoreless over the final six frames and Betsy Eatmon hammered two home runs as the Spartans completed a three-game Southern Conference series sweep of the Paladins with a 6-1 decision on Saturday afternoon at UNCG Softball Stadium.

Eatmon added to the UNCG lead in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run clout over the left field wall off reliever Sierra Tufts to up the Spartan lead to 5-1. Shipley added a solo shot two batters later for the final 6-1 margin.

 UNCG relief pitcher Jorde Chartrand earned the victory to up her record to 3-3. She tossed 3-1/3 scoreless innings and allowed just three hits.

Lauralee Scott (6-2) took the loss for Furman after allowing two runs on three hits over 2-1/3 innings. Perry collected two hits for the Paladins while Burroughs and Ainsley Yoshizumi each added a double.

The Paladins are back in action on Tuesday night when they travel to McWhorter Stadium to face 16^th-ranked Clemson. First pitch is 6 p.m. and the game will be televised live on the ACC Network.

The sweep began with a Friday doubleheader that UNCG won by identical scores of 5-3 after Furman led 3-1 early in both games.

Tori Dalehite gave UNCG the lead with a three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth and Salem Ward escaped a bases loaded jam in the seventh inning to lead the Spartans to a 5-3 victory over Furman in game one.

Sierra Tufts (8-5) took the loss for Furman allowing five runs on five hits over 5-2/3 innings. She walked four batters and struck out two.

 Poole and Burroughs each collected two hits for the Paladins.s.

In the latter game, UNCG erased a 3-1 deficit with four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, including a two-run, walk-off blast from Meredith Harwood, to secure its second 5-3 victory of the afternoon.

Tied at 1-1 after seven innings, Furman took the lead with a pair of runs in the top half of the eighth. Lykins singled to open the inning and went to third base when UNCG misplayed Goldwait’s sacrifice bunt attempt. Burroughs followed with a double down the left field line to put Furman in front, 2-1. After Perry lined out and Poole worked a walk to load the bases, Chiang singled inside the third base bag to up the advantage to 3-1.

UNCG wasted little time answering in the bottom of the frame. White doubled to left field to open the inning and Samantha Beck launched a two-run homer to center to even the game at 3-3. Angelina Ricciardi entered the game in relief for Furman, but Maycin Brown drew a four-pitch walk and moved into scoring position on a bunt. With one out, Harwood belted a walk-off blast to left field to complete the comeback for the Spartans.

Kaitlyn Laudick hit her first homer of the season and drew a walk for the Paladins. Burroughs finished with a double and an RBI.

The Furman men’s tennis team returned home to Mickel Tennis Center for the first time in over a month Saturday and secured a doubleheader sweep of the Chattanooga Mocs and Emmanuel Lions.
Furman stepped back into Southern Conference action by holding off Chattanooga, 4-3, and followed with a 6-1 non-conference victory over Emmanuel.
The Paladins improve to 9-10 overall and 2-1 in the SoCon. With the loss, Chattanooga drops 8-12 on the season and 2-2 in league play. Emmanuel falls to 8-6 for the year.

Furman began the Chattanooga match by clinching the opening point with victories at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. The Mocs took the No. 2 contest to open the match before the Paladins rallied in the final two matchups. Leonardo Dal Boni and Alex Han, playing together for the first time this season, followed with a 6-3 win at No. 3 over Gabriel Castillo and Kristof Kincses. In the No. 1 match, Thomas Kennedy and Elijah Poritzky went to a tiebreaker versus Peyton Gatti and Jakub Jupa before securing a 7-6(5) victory.
The singles portion of the match went down to a third-set tiebreaker with Walker Allen at No. 6. The freshman from Cumming, Ga., dropped the opening set to Peyton Gatti, 3-6, before responding in the second winning 6-3. The third set went to a tiebreaker, with Allen cruising, 7-2, for the 7-6 triumph.  

The Paladins also received singles wins from Leonardo Dal Boni (No. 2) and Thomas Kennedy (No. 3). Dal Boni, playing for the first time since February 26, topped Gabriel Castillo in three sets, 6-1, 2-6, 6-2, and Kennedy followed by defeating Ryan Mudre in straight sets, 7-6(6), 6-1.
Furman continued its momentum into doubles action against Emmanuel, winning at Nos. 1 and 3 to capture the point.

Furman captured five of the six singles matches to finish out the win. The Paladins won the first three contests in straight sets beginning with Cahill’s 6-2, 6-1 victory at No. 6 versus Lopes. Rado, appearing at No. 2, was victorious against Girdler, 6-4, 6-2, and Han defeated Calderon in the No. 5 match, 6-4, 6-4. Westling rallied back at No. 1 versus Gracio for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory. Following a win by the Lions, Furman rounded out the match with Allen winning his second third-set match of the day, defeating Castro in the No. 3 contest, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3.
The Paladins are back in action April 7-8 when they host The Citadel and East Tennessee State in a pair of Southern Conference matches.

Furman swept Chattanooga, 7-0, Saturday at Mickel Tennis Center in in women’s tennis.

The Paladins (9-10, 5-0 SoCon) won all three doubles matches.

Furman swept the six singles matches, winning four in straight sets.  Sara Snyder recorded a 7-5, 6-3 advantage over Rozalie Dohnalova in the top-seeded contest, and Maeve Thornton came from behind to defeat Madlena Orlova, 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-5), at flight two.  At number three, Elllie Schulson posted a 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-5) victory versus Carolina Gibbens, while Grace Thomas made quick work of Emma Peeler, 6-1, 6-1, at number four.  Macy Hitchcock topped Hall, 6-2, 6-3, at flight five, and junior Marissa Pennings entered the Paladin lineup at flight six, where she beat Emma Pedretti, 6-3, 6-1. 

The Mocs drop to 8-10 overall and 1-3 in league play with the loss.

Furman travels to Mercer Tuesday for a 3 p.m. contest in Macon, Ga.

Junior Sierra Bower finished 19th in the 5,000m to lead the Furman track and field teams this week at the Raleigh Relays at Paul Derr Track & Field Facility on the campus of N.C. State.

Bower posted a personal-best time of 16:03.89, finishing 19th overall and 16th among collegiate runners.  Her time is one of the top 20 qualifying times for the NCAA East Preliminaries at this point in the season.

In the women’s 3,000 Steeplechase, senior Nicole Matysik turned in a PR of 10:39.91 for 27th place.  Senior Megan Marvin led the Paladins in the women’s 1,500, crossing the line in 4:23.94 for 39th place.

On the men’s side, sophomore Luke Taylor placed 33rd with a personal-best time of 29:09.57 in the 10,000. Freshman Brayden Seymour led the Paladins in the 1,500, finishing 48th with a personal-best of 3:47.60

The Paladins will compete at the Electric City Invitational in Anderson on April 13.

Sophia Buzelis tied her career high with five goals Saturday, leading four Paladins with hat tricks, to help the Furman women’s lacrosse team to a 21-9 Big South Conference win over Gardner-Webb at Spangler Stadium in Boiling Springs, N.C.
Furman remains undefeated in the Big South, improving to 4-7 overall and 2-0 in conference play. With the loss, Gardner-Webb drops to 0-11 on the season and 0-2 against Big South opponents.
Buzelis netted her first hat trick of the year in the first quarter as the Paladins closed out the opening period with four consecutive goals to lead 7-3. Furman continued its run into the second quarter, scoring three straight times to extend its advantage to 10-3 just over five minutes into the period.
Furman outscored Gardner-Webb, 10-3, in the second half to secure the 12-goal victory. Anna Roser scored three of her four goals over the final 30 minutes as the Paladins used a 6-1 run over the course of nearly 10 minutes to take an 18-8 lead with 11:25 to go in the contest capped by Roser’s final goal of the afternoon.

The 21 goals mark a season high total for the Paladins and the most since a 23-13 victory last season at Wofford.
Furman travels to Clinton next Saturday for a noon opening draw against Presbyterian.

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