May 20, 2004

Charleston, SC - Rumors of the demise of Citadel baseball have been greatly exaggerated, Bulldogs coach Fred Jordan said Wednesday.

"I've got tremendous confidence in this club," said Jordan, whose team wraps up the Southern Conference regular season with a three-game series against UNC Greensboro starting today at Riley Park. "This club works as hard as any club we've ever had. We've had our trials and tribulations, but we know the true season begins next Wednesday at 7 o'clock."

Jordan's reference was to the Bulldogs' first game in the Southern Conference Tournament, which opens next Wednesday at Riley Park.

The Citadel (30-25) has lost six straight games, its longest losing streak of the season, and stands in third place in the SoCon with an 18-9 record. Three losses to UNC Greensboro (33-16, 16-11) could send the Bulldogs to fourth or fifth place in the league, which would mark their worst regular-season finish since the 1996 team finished fourth. The Bulldogs trail second-place Georgia Southern by a game and still could earn the No. 2 seed for the SoCon Tournament with a strong performance against UNC Greensboro.

"This ballclub needs some success," Jordan said. "They are working extremely hard, and are probably working too hard on their own to try to get that good feeling back. Hopefully, we can accomplish that this weekend against UNC Greensboro. But they have an outstanding club."

The Bulldogs' recent skid has come against quality competition: Coastal Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia Southern and Winthrop, all teams with NCAA regional hopes.

"It's been rough," said junior third baseman Chris Ard. "We've just got to get things going and get things rolling. I still think we've got a good team. We've just got to play ourselves out of what we are in right now."

The Citadel lost well-pitched games against the Gamecocks and Winthrop, and gave up 35 runs in losing three games at Georgia Southern.

"The competition in our schedule toward the end of the season has been very difficult," Jordan said. "But we hope we will be stronger because of it next week."

UNC Greensboro lost two of three to regular-season champ College of Charleston last week. The Spartans are batting .284 as a team, seventh in the league, and have a team earned run average of 3.85, best in the SoCon. Senior Ryan Gordan leads the team with a .364 batting average.

The two teams are playing a Thursday-Friday-Saturday series in order to prepare for the SoCon Tournament.

"It allows the visiting team a chance to go back home before they report to the tournament on Tuesday," Jordan said. "And it lines up your pitching for the tournament a little bit better."

The Bulldogs will go with their weekend rotation of Jon Ellis (8-3, 2.69 ERA), Ken Egleton (6-2, 4.56) and Chip Cannon (3-3, 4.83).

Both Thursday and Saturday's games will be aired on ESPN Radio 1340 AM.