Furman ace pitcher Will Gaddis has played a starring role in quite a few two-hour baseball games during his college career. But Wednesday's game, which lasted just 1:58, took a different course.
Instead of a tight pitching duel, Gaddis got plenty of offensive support as the fourth-seeded Paladins defeated No. 5 seed Wofford 13-3 in the opening round of the Southern Conference Tournament at Fluor Field. The game went just seven innings as the SoCon Tournament's mercy rule came into play.
Furman advances to face top-seeded Mercer at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, while Wofford is scheduled to face VMI in an elimination game at 12:30 p.m.
Wednesday's game could not have been scripted any better for the Paladins (30-26). Furman did all of its scoring in the first four innings giving coach Brett Harker the peace of mind to pull Gaddis after just five innings.
"We knew we wanted Will out there for five (innings), to get the win. Then it became 'how do I manage his pitch count for a potential championship game,' " Harker said. "That was just another average Will outing, and his average is pretty good."
Gaddis needed just 57 pitches, including 42 strikes, to get through those five innings and he should be good to go if the Paladins reach Sunday's final. Gaddis (9-3) allowed one run on three hits, with no walks and four strikeouts.
It was a different story for Wofford ace Adam Scott (6-6), who allowed just two runs in seven innings of work in his start against Furman in the regular season.
Harker tweaked the Paladins' lineup a bit Wednesday and it immediately paid off. New leadoff man Sky Overton singled to open the first inning. After a Carter Grote single, Landon Kay doubled to right to put Furman ahead 1-0. Cameron Whitehead then hit a majestic home run that landed on the awning just underneath the G and R of the "GREENVILLE DRIVE" sign atop the brick building beyond the Green Monster in left field. Whitehead's shot, estimated at 440 feet, made it 4-0. It's the ninth homer in the last 24 games for Whitehead, who leads the team with 12 total.
"I think that was the best (home run) I've ever had and probably in one of the bigger situations," Whitehead said. "Guys were hitting them up on that roof during last year's tournament and I was thinking, 'wow, how did they do that?' Now I've got one too, so that's pretty cool."
An inning later, Carter Grote just missed a home run as his drive hit near the top of the Green Monster. His RBI-double pushed the lead to 5-0.
Smallball lead to big numbers in the fourth as Furman put the game out of reach with an eight-run inning. Jake Crawford had a swinging bunt to lead off the inning before Overton and Jabari Richards followed with bunt singles. A run-scoring error and RBI-singles by Grote and Kay chased Scott.
Sims Griffith had an RBI-bunt single with the bases loaded before Bret Huebner hit an RBI-single and another run came home on a wild pitch. Overton capped the offensive uprising with his second hit of the inning, a two-single to make it 13-1.
Overton and Grote each went 3-for-3 to lead the Paladins, who piled up 17 hits in their six innings of batting.
Kody Ruedisili went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and McClain Bradley hit a two-run homer, his eighth, to lead the Terriers (28-29).
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