Blue Hose Go to Greenville to Battle Furman in Midweek DH
GREENVILLE, S.C. –
The fourth and fifth consecutive games against a fellow South Carolina university, the Presbyterian College softball team will cruise down the road to Furman on Wednesday evening for a non-conference two-parter. First pitch in Game 1 is locked in at 4:00 PM, followed by a second affair immediately after. Downing Winthrop at least twice for the third year in a row to begin Big South play with a series victory, the Blue Hose aim to continue that momentum and improve upon a 2-5 mark when in a true road atmosphere. PC has battled their S.C. neighbors 34 times since making the leap to the NCAA Division I level, tossing aside a six-game losing skid to the Paladins in 2023 by claiming a 6-5 win in the second half of a home DH. Then-sophomore Kendall Owens was responsible for the game-winning swing on that day – a 6th-inning sacrifice fly – something that she can also boast when looking back to Presby’s most recent appearance, an 8th-inning walk-off by the first baseman / DP to lift her squad to the series W against the Eagles.
GAMEDAY INFO – WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20
Presbyterian (10-18, 2-1 Big South) at Furman (11-14)
WHEN / WHERE: Pepsi Stadium (Greenville, S.C.) | 4:00 PM Doubleheader
WATCH (GAME 1): ESPN+
LIVE STATS (GAME 1): Stat Broadcast
WATCH (GAME 2): ESPN+
LIVE STATS (GAME 2): Stat Broadcast
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
– Furman finally put an eight-game tumble to rest in their last showing seven days back, winning the second round of a Gardner-Webb DH by a 9-5 cushion. The Paladins opened the campaign with a 10-6 mark prior to that losing spell, displaying a .500 record when competing at home (5-5).
– A 13-8 triumph against Atlantic Coast Conference member Louisville provided Furman with an 8-3 record back on February 24, only to win three of their 14 encounters since.
– Stacey Johnson-Whitfield is currently in her third go-around with the Paladins, a unit that possesses a 3.84 staff ERA beside a snug average margin of victory (three runs).
– Third baseman Chloe Fabio and right-hander Lauralee Scott were each given a weekly award from the SoCon on Monday, selected as the league’s Player & Pitcher of the Week respectively.
– Fabio batted a sizzling .857 during the duel with G-W, while Scott relieved the Game 2 win with five strikeouts in four frames. She holds the third-lowest earned-run average in the Southern Conference (2.29).
LAST TIME OUT
– Furman won’t be the only squad with some recent hardware, as junior utility Kelby Goodrum was chosen as the Big South’s Player of the Week winner after putting together a 7-of-11 hitting clip during the Winthrop set.
– Goodrum became the seventh PC player to claim the award since head coach David Williams arrived in Clinton six years back, recording two separate three-hit games versus the Eagles which matches a career-high. She has smacked 30 hits on the campaign to lead all in the blue and garnet.
– In fact, it was Goodrum who came home on Owens’ aforementioned walk-off to deny the Eagles a come-from-behind stunner, outscoring the Rock Hill trespassers 9-7 throughout the series.
– Presbyterian has already advanced past the seven-inning threshold six times in 2024, winning two of their last three in that scenario.
– Jenna Greene and Kasey Wolfe served as a formidable duo in the circle that Winthrop couldn’t escape, the former leading the Big South in strikeouts per seven innings (7.0) while already firmly in the lead for career K’s among all prior PC pitchers (668 and counting). Williams’ super-senior has amassed a 2.19 ERA – good for third among all conference twirlers – while Wolfe’s 2.47 mark puts the freshman in fifth on the same category.
