March 20, 2005

Box Score

Panthersville, Ga. - Candace Jones collected six hits and Georgia State pitchers recorded 22 strike outs in two games as the Panthers snapped a 10-game losing streak with a 3-2, 6-3 doubleheader sweep of Furman Sunday afternoon at Bob Heck Field.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh of game one with a runner on third and two outs Georgia Sate knotted the game when Lauren Morlock scored on a dropped fly ball by rightfielder Danielle Franklin.

Furman regained the lead in the top half of the eighth while using the international tiebreaker rule. Jessica Mathis, placed on second to start the inning, scored on a two-out, RBI single by Megan Jaudon to give Furman a 2-1 lead.

Maria Melts started the bottom half of the eighth on second base for the Panthers and came home to score on a one-out double from Jones. Alison Bradford followed with a single up the middle to score pinch runner Susan Lanier for the final 3-2 margin.

Elizabeth Hyman (9-9) earned the victry for Georgia State by allowing just one earned run and striking out 10 in eight innings. Jones and Bradford each tallied two base hits for the Panthers.

Freshman Blake Murray (3-5) suffered the loss for Furman despite allowing only one earned run on six hits over 7.1 innings of work. Jaudon paced the Lady Paladin offense going 3-for-3 with a RBI.

In game two, Candace Jones went 4-for-4 with two RBI and Lauren Morlock went 3-for-3 with two runs scored to lead the Panthers to a 6-3 come-from-behind victory.

With Furman leading 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth, pitcher Meghan McCoy drew a leadoff walk and Jones doubled to give Georgia State runners at second and third with nobody out. After a strike out and walk to load the bases, Morlock laced a single to center to drive in pinch runner Jamie Cagle knotting the score at 3-3. Pamela O'Neal followed with a two-out, two-run double to give the Panthers a 5-3 lead.

Georgia State tacked on an insurance run in the sixth for McCoy who improved to 2-9 with the win. McCoy recorded 12 strike outs and allowed just one walk, while limiting Furman to three runs on eight hits over seven innings.

Senior Rachel Henley (5-11) surrendered six runs on 11 hits while being credited with the loss for the Lady Paladins. Jessica Mathis registered two doubles and a RBI to lead the Furman offense.

Furman, 9-19 on the season, returns to action Wednesday when it travels to Chapel Hill, N.C., to face the North Carolina Tarheels in a non-conference twinbill.