April 29, 2005

Box Score

Davidson, NC - Davidson hit four home runs, including a grand slam by Alex Entekin and a two-run walk-off in the ninth by pinch hitter Taylor Shoop, to defeat The Citadel 9-7 in Southern Conference action Friday night at Wilson Field.

Davidson (21-19, 10-12 SoCon) got on the board in the third thanks to a solo home run off the bat Andrew Musashe giving the Wildcats an early 1-0 lead. With one out, Musashe blasted the second pitch he saw into the trees behind the left-centerfield fence for his fourth dinger of the year.

The Citadel (15-26, 6-13 SoCon) took a one-run lead, 2-1, in the top half of the fifth on a RBI-double by senior third baseman Chris Ard and a run scoring single off the bat of junior short stop Matt Matulia. With runners on first and second, Ard ripped a double into the left-center gap easily scoring senior catcher Will Coker from second, but thanks to a great relay throw from center junior centerfield Trent Weathers was gunned down at home for the second out of the inning. One batter later, Matulia dropped a bloop-single over the third baseman driving home Ard for the Bulldogs' second run of the inning.

Alex Entrekin gave Davidson a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth on a towering grand slam to left. Down 2-1 with the bases loaded, Entrekin ripped a 1-0 pitch out to left for his fourth homer of the season and his second career grand slam.

The Wildcats tacked on another run on their third homer of the night giving Davidson a 6-2 lead in the sixth. On a 2-2 count, Jay Heafner golfed a curve ball just inside the leftfield foul poll for his 10th round-tripper of the 2005 campaign. Davidson got an insurance run in the seventh on a RBI-ground ball by Rob Wilson pushing the Wildcat lead to 7-2 with two frames to play.

The Bulldogs got back in the game with five runs in the eight to knot the score at 8 runs apiece. The rally started as Matulia trotted home from third on a throwing error, while freshman first baseman Chris Swauger was plated on a wild pitch. Senior second baseman Jon Aughey kept the rally going with a two-run homer, his second of the year. After two pinch hitters, Ard reached safely on an infield single to load the bases which allowed pinch runner Chance Smith to tie the game on a bases loaded single issued to Matulia.

Davidson reliever Justin Hartanov earned the win after hurling one and two-thirds allowing one run on two hits, while walking two and fanning one. Citadel closer Link Saunders took the loss as he surrendered the Shoop homer in the ninth.

The Bulldogs and Wildcats will meet Saturday at 2 pm for game two of the series.