Beatson helps Paladins take series over Citadel

Furman freshman Jordan Beatson pitched six scoreless innings in the
Paladins' 6-1 win at The Citadel Sunday. Photo courtesy of Furman.

Making just his second start of the season, Furman freshman pitcher Jordan Beatson tossed six scoreless innings as Furman downed rival The Citadel 6-1 Sunday afternoon in Charleston. After an atrocious day of defense on Saturday, the Paladins came back with an error-less game Sunday in clinching the series. It marks Furman's eighth win in the last nine games against the Bulldogs.

With three weekend series left in the Southern Conference regular season, the Paladins (21-23, 6-9) have a two-game lead over Citadel (15-27, 4-11) and are two games back of sixth-place ETSU.

In a series in which the teams combined for 15 errors, the Bulldogs accounted for all four on Sunday. Furman took advantage of three in the first two innings, scoring three unearned runs. The Paladins lead extended to 4-0 in the fourth on an RBI-triple by Ben Anderson. The freshman is now tied for Furman's single-season record for triples with six.

Brandon Elmy added an RBI-double in the sixth and Jake Crawford pushed the lead to 6-0 when he led off the seventh with his fifth home run.

Beatson (2-2) blanked Citadel for six innings, allowing just two hits over his 72-pitch performance. The former Dutch Fork High standout had three walks and three strikeouts. Opponents are batting just .221 against Beatson this season, which is far and away the lowest average allowed on the team.

After missing Saturday's doubleheader due to injury, Sims Griffith returned to the lineup and went 2-for-3 with two runs scored to lead Furman. Crawford also had two hits while Anderson finished with two RBIs.

Taylor Cothran had two of the Bulldogs' five hits and knocked in their only run.

Still in the middle of exams, the Paladins will not have a midweek game this week. Furman returns to action next Friday at home when it opens a three-game series against Western Carolina. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 6 p.m.