Box Score BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- With their backs against the wall, Samford rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh but Furman answered right back to take a 4-3 lead in the top of the eighth, which proved final.
 
Samford (14-33, 6-15 SoCon) finishes the regular season with a six-win conference record and earns a No. 9 seed in this week's SoCon Tournament.  For the third-straight game, Samford left six runners on base despite out-hitting the Paladins, 9-7.  Four Bulldogs had two-hit performances, including a 2-4 day from Kayla Shaffer with the game-tying RBI double in the seventh.  Misha Aldridge continued her hot weekend at the plate, going 2-3 today to bring her weekend total to five hits in eight at-bats.  Shelby Scott (5-15) threw 124 pitches over 8.0 innings, taking another tough loss in the circle.
 
Yesterday's game two hero for Furman (27-25, 10-11 SoCon) was the difference-maker Sunday as well, as Ambree Muller hit a clutch two-out double in the top of the eighth, scoring Stephanie Field from second as the go-ahead run.  Field led off the inning with a single, her second hit of the day, as she was the only Paladin with a multi-hit performance.  After throwing only 0.2 innings of relief in game one Saturday, Meaghan Houston (9-7) earned an efficient complete-game victory Sunday, throwing only 90 pitches over 8.0 innings.
 
For the third-straight game, Samford scored first to take a 2-0 lead in the third inning.  With two runners in scoring position and one out, Callie Brister grounded out but still scored the runner from third to put the Bulldogs up 1-0 and advance Shaffer to third.  Alex Adams powered a double to the left-field wall, easily scoring Shaffer to move the lead to 2-0.  A groundout ended the inning with the Bulldogs holding a two-run lead.
 
The lead didn't last long as Furman pulled ahead in the top of the fourth.  With a pair of base runners on courtesy of two walks and two out in the half-inning, Natalie Clemmons drove them both home with a double into the left-field corner to tie the game.  Hannah Pace put the Paladins ahead with an RBI single to right field in the next at-bat.  A fly ball in foul territory would end the inning but the Bulldogs now trailed 3-2 through 3 1/2 innings.
 
Samford was down to its last out in the bottom of the seventh with Abby Adams as the potential tying run at first base.  Shaffer came through with a clutch at-bat, hitting an opposite-field double to left field as Abby Adams slid into home with the ball popping out of the Furman catcher's glove.  Shaffer advanced to third on the throw, putting the go-ahead run 60 feet away, but a strikeout would end it and force extra innings.
 
With a runner at second and two out in the top of the eighth, Muller put the Paladins up 4-3 with an RBI double to center field.  A fly ball would end the inning as the Bulldogs were in a must-score situation in the bottom of the eighth.  Samford failed to rally however, going three up, three down to take the tough extra-innings loss.
 
With the loss, Samford will be forced to play in a single-elimination game against Elon at 9 a.m. ET on Wednesday, May 8 in Greensboro, N.C.  The winner of that game will advance into the final field of eight teams and will take on top-seeded Appalachian State at approximately 2:30 p.m. the same day.  The eight tournament teams will play a double-elimination style tournament, culminating with the SoCon Championship game on Saturday, May 11 at 5 p.m.