By MONTE DUTTON

I conducted some web research and have confirmed that Connecticut’s Donovan Clingan is not a Klingon, though, in fairness, I did find some disreputable site that claimed he was, as well as Purdue’s Zach Edey and N.C. State’s D.J. Burns.

The Wolfpack had quite a run. I can’t think of a single basketball player who reminds me of Burns. All I can think of is a sumo wrestler. He is a phenomenon.

Stunning upsets give the tournaments life, but the point is supposed to be determining the nation’s best teams. I’m somewhat excited about the essential merit of Iowa versus South Carolina and Purdue versus UConn.

I adore baseball, but the seeming disinterest of the Boston Red Sox and the absence of the Furman Paladins leaves me a bit dejected.

The season decides the best team, but I don’t think any other team has three position players as good as the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani.

I will cheerfully support any team that prevents the Yankees from winning the World Series.

Throughout Boston’s run of four championships, I nervously pointed out that the Red Sox are always dominant early in centuries. I also realized that the team let Betts get away a century after Babe Ruth escaped.

One curse eventually and invariably leads to another.

Led by a career-best seven points from Sophia Buzelis,Furman soundly defeated Presbyterian in lacrosse, 17-6, on Saturday at Bailey Memorial Stadium in Clinton.

Buzelis scored five goals and added two turnovers.

Paige Harman, the reigning Big South Offensive Player of the Week, tied her career highs of six points and four assists to go with two goals and two ground balls. Anna Roser provided four goals and Hannah Dintino three. In goal, Lily Rathbun totaled four saves.

Brooke Chandler led the Blue Hose (1-10, 0-3 Big South)with three points on a goal and two assists. Abby Edmisten and Emma Claire Mills both scored twice. Goalies Kayleigh Aitken and Naomi Lauderbaug combined for seven saves.
Furman scored eight straight goals over the span of three periods to improve to 7-0 all-time against Presbyterian. The Paladins outscored the Blue Hose 4-0 in the third quarter and held the hosts without a goal for over 23 minutes. Furman opened the game on a 6-1 run, including three goals from Buzelis, before Chandler’s goal at the 6:24 mark of the second quarter cut its lead down to 6-2.

The 8-0 run propelled the Paladins’ advantage to 14-2 with 14:27 remaining when Sophie Shaw netted her only goal of the contest. Furman scored three of the game’s final four goals.
In total, six Paladins scored in the win along with Molly Faul and Mia Falco.

Senior Walker Crosby (-2) shot even par to move into eighth place following Saturday’s second round of the Mason Rudolph Championship, which is being hosted by Vanderbilt at the par-71, 7,112-yard Vanderbilt Legends South Course in Franklin, Tenn.

Crosby, who is from Memphis, opened the round with a birdie on No. 1, then added additional birdies on Nos. 5-6. He turned at 1-over then birdied No. 4 and sealed the round with an eagle on the par-5 No. 18 to card a 71 in round two. He is seven strokes behind leader Gordon Sargent (-9) of Vanderbilt, who holds a two-stroke lead after posting rounds of 64-69-133.

Sophomore Harris Barth (+3) shot a 74 with birdies on No. 13 and No. 15 and is tied for 29th with 18 holes to play, while junior Trey Diehl (+4) paced the Paladins with a 1-under 70.

No. 3 Vanderbilt (-8) extended its lead to 10 strokes with a 275 on Saturday. Fifth-ranked Ole Miss (-7) surged into second place, and Middle Tennessee State (-1) moved up into third place. Charlotte (+3) and No. 9 Alabama (+3) are tied for fourth, and UNC Wilmington (+4) is in sixth. Furman (+11) sits seventh.

The 54-hole tournament concludes Sunday beginning at 8:30 a.m. EDT with all teams teeing off on No. 1. The Paladins are paired with College of Charleston and Kentucky.

Mercer’s offense exploded in the bottom of the fourth inning in both games to propel the Bears to a 3-1, 6-1 doubleheader sweep of Furman on Saturday at Sikes Field in Macon, Ga.

The sweep improved the Bears to 17-19 overall and 6-2 in Southern Conference play while Furman slipped to 18-20 overall and 3-5 in the league.

Grace Taylor tossed a complete game to lead the Bears to a 3-1 victory in game one.

After three scoreless frames, the Bears batted around in the fourth inning to take control of the game. Avery Barton was hit by a pitch to start the inning and Kaddisy Moore followed with a two-run blast to center field to open the scoring. A base on balls, single and fielder’s choice loaded the bases before Alyssa Woods upped the margin to 3-0 with an RBI single.

Hannah Poole got Furman on the board in the top of the sixth inning with a solo home run to left-center field, her third of the season. In the seventh inning, Ainsley Yoshizumi was plunked by a pitch and Hana Hashioka delivered a single, but Taylor retired the next two batters to end the threat.

Taylor earned the victory in the circle to improve to 7-8. She scattered five hits and allowed only one run over seven innings while striking out three Paladins and issuing one walk.

Furman starter Sierra Tufts absorbed the loss for the Paladins to drop to 8-6. The righthander gave up three runs on four hits over six innings. She walked two and struck out two batters.

Mercer tallied two runs in the first and added four more in the bottom of the fourth to cruise to a 6-1 win in game two.

The first five Mercer batters reached base in the bottom of the first as the Bears jumped out to the lead with a pair of runs. Woods reached base on a leadoff single and Jenessa Plummer reached on an error before Tori Hedgecock and Moore registered back-to-back RBI singles.

Furman answered in the top of the fourth with a solo home run from Kiley Perry, but the Bears responded with four runs in the bottom of the frame. A bunt single, error, and fielder’s choice loaded the bases ahead of Hedgecock’s towering grand slam to center field.

Hannah Pitts (4-5) limited Furman to one run on four hits over seven innings to up her record to 4-5 in the circle.

Woods, Hedgecock, and Moore each contributed two hits in game two while Hedgecock knocked in five runs.

Lauralee Scott (7-3) took the loss for the Paladins, allowing six runs, four earned, on eight hits over six innings.

Perry delivered her sixth homer of the season and also drew a base on balls. Lykins reached base five times during the doubleheader and has now reached safely in 34 of her last 35 games.

The weekend series between the Paladins and Bears concludes with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Sikes Field.

Women’s tennis plays at Charlotte Sunday in the team’s final nonconference match.

First serve is set for 1 p.m. at the Halton-Wagner Tennis Complex in Charlotte, N.C.

The Paladins enter Sunday’s match with a 10-10 overall record and a perfect 6-0 Southern Conference mark after beating Mercer, 6-1, in Macon on Tuesday. Furman won at flights two and three doubles to win the opening point then captured victories in five of six singles matches. 

Charlotte is ranked 46th nationally but has lost two of its last three matches.  The 49ers defeated North Texas, 4-2, but fell to 57th-ranked South Florida, 4-3, and dropped a 4-2 decision at Rice. Charlotte is scheduled to play at ETSU Saturday before returning home to face the Paladins. 

Furman leads the all-time series with Charlotte, 26-1, but the 49ers won last season’s meeting, 4-1, in Greenville.

Furman (5-7, 3-0) is back at Paladin Stadium on Wednesday to host Mercer at 6 p.m.

Monday is my birthday. There’s an eclipse, which for some reason makes me a little uneasy.

I’ve never been one to ask people to donate to charity for my birthday. What makes me think people who wouldn’t dream of giving me a present should give to charity in my name?

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