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Schedule

Full
SeniorsOnly_21
1
Furman FUR 18-26
5
Winner Western Carolina WCU 25-21
Furman FUR
18-26
1
Final
5
Western Carolina WCU
25-21
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Furman FUR 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 1
Western Carolina WCU 0 0 2 3 0 0 X 5 8 0

W: Eilers, Jayme (12-10) L: Sierra Tufts (8-12)

Game Recap: Softball | | Denise Gideon, Director of Media Relations

Softball Clinches Spot in SoCon Championship With Sweep of Furman

Seniors honored prior to the game

The Basics 
Score: Western Carolina 5, Furman 1
Records: Western Carolina 25-21, 12-2 SoCon; Furman 18-26 7-7 SoCon
Location: Cullowhee, N.C., Catamount Softball Complex
 
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina softball punched its ticket to the 2021 SoCon Championship with a 5-1 win over Furman Sunday at the Catamount Softball Complex on Senior Day. Before the game, Danielle Chapman, Kailey McNeil, and Addie Pate were honored. 
 
The Catamounts and UNCG have secured a spot in the four-team SoCon Championship and will be held in either Cullowhee or Greensboro. This season the No. 1 seed hosts the tournament and the three-game series between Western Carolina and the Spartans is the showdown that will determine it. 
 
Western Carolina 5, Furman 1
 
Turning Point 
With Western Carolina trailing 1-0, after Furman scored in the first inning, the Catamounts went on to score five unanswered runs. 
 
How it Happened 
  • Furman took its first lead of the series when Riley Ludlam hit a lead-off home run to open the game. 
  • The Catamounts took the lead scoring two runs in the bottom of the third. Pate led off the inning with a single past the shortstop. Chapman laid down a beauty of a sacrifice bunt to push Pate to second and a groundout by Morgan Maddaluna moved Pate to third. Lindsay Perillo's RBI double to right field scored Pate and Bailey Huneycutt's RBI single to centerfield plated Pate to give WCU a 2-1 lead. Huneycutt was out at second after she tried to push her single to a double. 
  • Insurance runs opportunity were the phrases of the fourth inning for the Catamounts. McNeil led off the inning singling down the third baseline and moved to second on a Furman error. Myra Twitty's single past third moved McNeil to third who scored on a wild pitch. With one out, Savannah Baldwin drew a walk and stole second setting up a Jeralynn Wells single to move Baldwin to third. With two outs, Wells stole second and Baldwin scored on the throw down to second. Chapman's RBI single to centerfield pushed Wells home for the third run of the inning and fifth of the game.
 
 
 Inside the Box Score 
  • Sophomore hurler Jayme Eilers tossed her second complete game of the series with Furman giving up one run on three hits and striking out 1o. 
  • After Eilers gave up a home run, she got a strikeout for the first out, walked a pair, and then struck out the final two batters of the first inning. She went on to strike out the side in the second inning and only allowed three base runners after the second walk of the first inning and two hits after giving up the home run. 
  • Western Carolina had eight hits in the game. 
  • Perillo went 2-for-3 in the game with an RBI and a run scored. 
 
 
News & Notes 
  • Bailey Huneycutt extended her on-base streak to 29 consecutive games and moves into a tie for second place in the WCU record books for most games reaching base. 
  • Western Carolina is now 17-2 at home this season and has won 15-straight at home – a new program record for consecutive home wins. 
  • The Catamounts swept its third conference series of the season.
  • The 12 SoCon wins this season are the second-most by the Catamounts since the program began in 2006. In the inaugural year, that team had 16 conference victories. 
  • In her last three starts, Eilers has tossed two shutouts, with a 0.33 ERA, with just six hits in 21 innings and striking out 32. 
  • For the first since 2006 and just the second time in program history, Western Carolina swept the three-game series against Furman. 
  • Eilers has 143 strikeouts this season which ranks in eighth place in the WCU record books for strikeouts in a season and needs five to move into seventh. For her career, she has 166 strikeouts which rank ninth in the Catamount record books. 
 
Up Next 
Western Carolina travels to UNCG next weekend in the final Southern Conference series of the season. The key series will determine the SoCon regular-season champion and who will host the tournament. 
 
 For the latest information on Catamount softball, follow @catamounts and @catamountsb on Twitter or go to www.catamountsports.com.
 
 
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