February 24, 2003

Over the first two weeks of the baseball season, The Citadel has played four SEC teams and one ACC team. The Bulldogs defeated one team from each league, including a 15-2 trouncing of N.C. State Sunday, and had a chance to win the other three games.

In other words, The Citadel's 2-3 start is about as good as a 2-3 start can get.

"We played pretty solidly all weekend," said Bulldogs coach Fred Jordan, whose team beat Kentucky 3-1 Friday in the Charleston Crab House Challenge, and has lost to Tennessee, South Carolina and Vanderbilt. "N.C. State is an outstanding team, and we were very fortunate. They beat UCLA and East Carolina on the road, but we got some outstanding pitching."

Home runs by catcher Jason Randall and third baseman Chris Ard - a game-breaking grand slam in the fifth inning - and the pitching of sophomore right-hander Jon Ellis anchored the Bulldogs' effort against the 5-3 Wolfpack, which had beaten The Citadel 15 times in 18 meetings under Jordan.

"It's a great feeling, especially against a team like N.C. State," said Randall, who got the Bulldogs' 17-hit attack rolling with a two-run homer in the first inning. "Coach told us they'll probably finish in the top half of the ACC. And the way we beat them, it proves we can hang with most teams in the country and says a lot about our club."

Ellis (1-0) allowed one run on five hits and struck out seven in his six innings Saturday, and twin brothers (and freshmen) Ken and Mark Egleton mopped up with three innings of relief, with Ken allowing one run in his two innings.

"It's amazing," said Randall. "Our young pitchers are showing no tentativeness at all. They are just going out there and pounding the zone. It's pretty impressive."

Ellis, who had a 32-3 record at St. Andrews High School, made some clutch pitches when the game was still in doubt. With The Citadel up 2-0 in the second, Ellis struck out Conor Clougherty with runners at first and second. In the third, Ellis caught No. 3 hitter Joe Gaetti - son of former major leaguer Gary - looking at a fastball with a runner on second.

"He's got a lot of fighting heart and will pitch himself out of jams with some quality pitches," Jordan said. "He did that tonight twice."

With the wind blowing out at Riley Park, the Bulldogs belted their first two homers of the season. Randall, a 6-5, 245-pound senior who was just 3 of 17 in the first four games, pounded a fastball from N.C. State starter Nate Cretarolo (1-2) over the wall in center for a quick 2-0 lead in the first.

"I've been getting my pitches but not taking advantage," Randall said. "Tonight, I was just sitting dead red and I finally squared one up and hit it out. I hope it will get me started."

Ard, a sophomore from Stratford High, also squared one up in the fifth, belting a grand slam over the wall in left for a 9-0 lead. He had two hits and drove in five runs.

First baseman Chip Cannon, who has hit safely in 14 straight games, was 3 for 4, drove in two runs and scored three times. Randall scored four times and Jon Aughey three, and Randall and left fielder Josh Stackley each drove in two runs.

* The Citadel's schedule doesn't ease up, as the Bulldogs head to perennial national contender Miami for a three-game series beginning Friday. The games - at 7 p.m. Friday, 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday - will be broadcast on WQNT 1450-AM.

* In Sunday's other games at the Crab House Challenge, Drexel beat Boston College, 10-6, and Richmond topped Kentucky, 11-10.