Furman softball kicked off their season on Friday, Feb. 9 with a 4-1 victory over North Dakota State when they traveled to Wilmington, N.C. for the UNC Wilmington Tournament.
Furman went 4-1 in the UNCW Tournament, beating North Dakota State, DePaul University and Northern Kentucky. The hosting university was another victim of Furman’s strong performance in a 3-1 triumph, though the Seahawks took revenge with a 3-2 win the next game.
The following weekend, the Dins returned home to host the Paladin Invitational at Pepsi Stadium on Feb. 16-18. They defeated IUPUI and Towson before getting only their second loss of the season against Georgetown. Following the 5-1 victory against Towson, freshman pitcher Taylor Miller was named the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week. Miller only allowed four hits across five innings and gave up just one run. She struck out three Tigers and surrendered zero walks.
In their next game, Furman scored a season-high nine runs as they routed Lipscomb 9-3. Freshmen infielders Ansley Chiang and Christina McCoy combined their efforts to go 5-for-5 at the plate with three runs batted in. Senior outfielder Ashlee Lykins recorded her 150th career hit as a Paladin, reaching base on an infield single.
Furman then traveled to Columbia, S.C. to play the South Carolina Gamecocks on Wednesday, Feb. 21. The Paladins failed to keep up offensively and lost 8-0 in six innings. The Gamecocks handed senior pitcher Sierra Tufts her first loss of the season, resulting in her record dropping to 4-1.
Lykins has paced the team with 12 hits this season, while Preseason SoCon Player of the Year sophomore first baseman Kiley Perry follows with 10.
Senior infielder Hannah Poole currently leads the team in batting average, averaging 0.364 across 22 at-bats in nine games for Furman and slugs a team-high 0.591. Poole and sophomore catcher Sylvia Burroughs also share a team-high 6 RBIs.
The Dins will travel to Myrtle Beach, S.C. on Feb. 23 to play in the Battle at the Beach Tournament, hosted by Coastal Carolina. Furman will face Louisville and Bowling Green twice before playing the Chanticleers on Sunday, Feb. 25.
Furman will return home afterward to host the Paladin Classic in Pepsi Stadium from March 1-3. The Dins will take on Akron and South Dakota at home. All games will be streamed on ESPN+.
Furman will open Southern Conference play on Saturday, March 23 in a double-header against Western Carolina with the first game slated for 1 p.m. The SoCon season will continue throughout April, culminating with a three-game series against ETSU on May 4 and 5.
Following the conclusion of the Southern Conference regular season, the post-season tournament is scheduled for May 8 through 11 in Greensboro, N.C.
