Sports

The World Series has just begun between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox, the final saga in what has already been a thrilling postseason. It is fitting that these two teams would meet to compete in the championship — both teams finished with the best records in their respective leagues with identical 97-65 marks.

The college football season’s heading into week nine, and it’s an ideal time to assess the title chances of the top five teams in the Bowl Championship Series.

The start of the 2013-2014 college basketball season is just a week away. With a lot of changes to conferences, it should shape up to be another wild ride this season. The pre-season top 10, however, has no surprises

Two weeks ago, the Paladins improved their record to .500 in conference play with a 17 point victory over the Appalachian State Mountaineers. 2013 is App State’s final season as a member of the Southern Conference before making the jump to the Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly known as 1-A, to join the Sun Belt Conference.

Perhaps the best story in baseball this year has been that of the Pirates. After 20 straight years of wallowing in the bottom of the NL Central standings, never once managing so much as a winning record, let alone a playoff appearance, they have managed to field a winning team once more. They finished the regular season with a 94-68 record and beat the Reds in a wild card playoff to make the NLDS, where at the time of this writing they hold a 2-1 lead, just one win away from moving on to the NLCS.

Over the years the Paladins baseball team has produced 48 players who went on to play at some level of professional baseball, so it’s no surprise when there are a couple of scouts in the stands at Latham Stadium. In 2013, the Paladins produced three MLB draft picks, all selected by the Los Angeles Angels organization.

Furman Men’s Soccer is off to a strong start in the 2013 season, sporting a 7-1-1 record and a 16th overall ranking from TopDrawerSoccer.com. Following a tough loss to Akron in their second game of the season, they’ve gone on a seven game undefeated streak during which they have won six games and managed a +17 goal differential.

Furman (2-3, 1-1 SoCon) once again failed to finish a second half rally at home over family weekend, losing 28-25 to Southern Conference foe Elon (2-4, 1-1 SoCon). The Paladins stormed back from being down by 18 at the half but never managed to regain the lead. The loss dropped Furman back under .500 and marks the first time that the Paladins have lost at home this season.

If you were near the lake last Saturday you probably noticed the Furman University Fishing Club’s fall tournament. Twenty-two competitors, including fishermen from Wake Forest and Clemson, lined the banks for most of the day, all casting for the $100 top prize.

Many of the nation’s top Division I women’s golf teams descended upon Greenville last week for the 42nd annual Lady Paladin Invitational. Furman finished fifth amongst a field that included the likes of Clemson, Florida State, Texas A&M, and twelve other teams from as far away as Wisconsin.

Heading into week five of the college football season, the Heisman race is starting to shape up, with some early favorites falling out of favor and some dark horses finding themselves amongst the leaders. Here are my current top five favorites, in order, to win the Heisman award as of week four.

Recently the Cuban players have been making their presence known with great performances, and they’ve managed this despite relatively few numbers — there are just 21 Cuban players in the MLB, not even enough to field a full 25 man roster.

With a 24-17 victory over longtime Palmetto State rival the Citadel Bulldogs, the Paladins brought their record back to an even 2 and 2. The two teams took the field Saturday night in Charleston in what was Furman’s first Southern Conference game of the season.

The Major League Baseball playoffs begin Oct. 1 with the National League wild card game, and the American League wild card game is Oct. 3. Here are my predictions.

Furman Football rose after halftime to win its first game of the season, beating Presbyterian College 21-20. It was the first home game for the Paladins, and the result leaves both teams with 1-2 records.

After opening the season with five consecutive losses, the Paladins volleyball team bounced back this week, pulling out wins in three of five matches.

The Paladins opened the 2013 season on the road with two tough losses to Gardner-Webb and Coastal Carolina, losing each game by only seven points. After not getting much going on the offensive side of the ball against Gardner-Webb (sophomore quarterback Reese Hannon was unable to play because of a strained oblique), the Paladins opened up in the next game, gaining 431 yards of offense against Coastal Carolina.

For many Microsoft fans, this season is particularly exciting due to the upcoming release of the company’s new console, the Xbox One. The console will host a more powerful processor, advanced graphics, and something that may get gamers moving — the Kinect 2.0.

1. Who was the last Furman soccer player to score a hat trick before Bobby Edet did so against College of Charleston? Against who? 2. With what pick in the 2013 MLS draft was former Furman soccer player Walker Zimmerman taken? By what team? 3. When was the last time the Paladin’s soccer team scored at least 8 goals before their 8-0 win over Presbyterian? Against which team? 4. How many goals has senior Martin Ontiveros scored for the Furman soccer team? 5. How many career wins does coach Doug Allison have with the Paladins?

Furman’s first home soccer game of the season was a fantastic continuation of what has already been an exciting season. After a hard fought 4-3 win against Xavier to start the season and a strong, although unsuccessful, effort against nationally ranked Akron, the Paladins returned home to face College of Charleston.

Last season Stephanie Devita found herself in prestigious company, becoming only the fourth player to win Southern Conference Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year in the same season, and this year she’s only looking to improve on that success. The Paladin caught up with her to see what her goals are for this upcoming season and to ask her about what led to her love for the beautiful game.

Many Furman soccer fans would consider last year’s Men’s soccer season a disappointment after a very talented team failed to make the NCAA tournament field. Part of the reason the team fell short was it’s relatively weak schedule and loss to Wofford in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference playoffs.

With the Major League Baseball playoffs quickly approaching, the on-field action has finally taken center stage from performance-enhancing drug scandals and the instant replay debate. There are close races going on, with both wild card and divisional races in full force.

1. Which two players participated in the longest tennis match ever recorded? How long was it? 2. Who threw the fastest-recorded pitch in MLB history? How fast was it? 3. Which two players are tied for the most sacks in a single Super Bowl game? How many? 4. Which tennis players, male and female, hold the records for fastest serve recorded? At what speed? 5. Who holds the record for most career inside-the-park home runs? How many?

After a disappointing 3-8 season last year, Furman football is looking to bounce back strong in its third season under Bruce Fowler. The Paladins open the season on the road against Gardner-Webb. They will also travel to LSU and Georgia Southern, clearly the toughest away games this year.