March 14, 2008

Box Score

Rock Hill, S.C. - Sophomore Meredith Mielke belted her first two career home runs, including a fourth-inning grand slam, to power Furman to a 13-3 victory over Gardner-Webb and a sweep of the Paladins' two games on the opening day of the Winthrop/adidas Invitational Friday afternoon. Furman opened the tournament downing Vermont 6-3.

Trailing Garner-Webb (9-12) 3-0 in the third inning of the nightcap, Katie Michaels reached base on a two-out infield single and Mielke followed with a towering blast over the centerfield fence to pull Furman within a run.

After Abby Robertson reached on an error to start the bottom of the fourth inning, Brythe Blankenship hammered a two-run shot over the left-center field wall to give Furman a 4-3 lead. Alison Coffey relieved Bulldog starter Christine Murray and was greeted by back-to-back singles from Morgan Hughey and Lana Mackey. A groundout and a pair of errors plated another Paladin run and loaded the bases for Mielke who belted a Coffey pitch over the right field fence for a grand slam.

Furman (9-10) continued the fourth-inning rally as Robertson singled, Blankenship was hit by a pitch and Hughey registered her second hit of the inning. With the bases loaded, Mackey lined a grand slam over the right field fence to up the Furman advantage to 13-3.

Mackey retired the Bulldogs in order in the fifth to invoke the eight-run mercy rule. The righthander worked two scoreless innings of relief to improve to 6-7 in the circle. The Paladins recorded 10 hits, including two-hit games by Mielke, Robertson, Hughey and Mackey. Mielke, a centerfielder from Matthews, N.C., equalled a Furman record with two homers and six RBI in a game as the Paladins set a new school record with four home runs and two grand slams in a game. Mackey finished 2-for-3 with four RBI while six Paladins scored two runs apiece.

Murray (3-4) suffered the loss for Gardner-Webb allowing three earned runs on four hits in three innings. Coffey surrendered nine unearned runs on six hits in one inning of relief. The Bulldogs grabbed an early 3-0 lead when Mandy Ward notched a two-run homer in the first and Jessi Williams belted a solo shot in the top of the third.

Furman opened the day rallying from a 3-1 deficit on the strength of a four-run sixth inning to down Vermont 6-3.

The Paladins lost an early 1-0 lead when the Catamounts plated three unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth. Mielke, Stephanie Cushing and Robertson opened the sixth reaching on singles to load the bases. Blankenship chopper to third was misplayed allowing Mielke to score and cut the lead to 3-2. After Vermont (2-10) pitcher Aimee Kern retired the next two batters, Mackey lined a single through the left side to drive in a run and the Catamounts committed another error on a ground ball to second off the bat of Bethany Ullrich allowing two more runs to score.

Blankenship added an RBI single in the seventh and Mackey finished off the complete game for the victory. Mackey did not allow an earned run and fanned four batters while issuing four walks. Kern (1-7) allowed six runs on nine hits to take the loss.

Cushing went 2-for-4 with a triple while Blankenship finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs.

The Paladins continue pool play on Saturday facing Charlotte at 1 p.m. and Memphis at 5 p.m.